Can anyone tell me why this site is still up. It's takeing items from here and daz and selling them and giveing them away. My freind had a run in with the webmaster with her items being on the site and haveing the site sell her items. It's takeing a lot of sells away from venders So why is noone doing anything?

It seems to me that Vendors have very little protection from people illegally distributing their creations, as copyright notices do not stop criminals such as this site selling ones merchandise illgally, for sure DAZ, Renderosity, DNA and other marketplaces should be able to use the law against this site as it is reselling stuff without a licence which is held by these marketplaces.

I guess you will never stop people passing stuff bewtween each other as these are virtual items, but one can make it difficult, especially when as you say someone is actually reselling stuff.

 The problem with pirate sites is that they're not the actual hosts.  Vendors DO, actually, go to the site and ask them to take their stuff down.  The problem is, within hours, their stuff is back up, posted by someone else.

They post links to rapidshare or others. Two strategies are more effective against this:

1. Vendors should report the DMCA and copyright infringement to their domain name registrar, that is probably the one who also hosts their website pages. After some research I got it:

Registrar: WILD WEST DOMAINS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.wildwestdomains.com
Referral URL: http://www.wildwestdomains.com

If Wild West Domains receives enough requests, they may just suspend their account, delete their site and cancel their domain name. This will put an end to TopGFX and force them to retreat or start again.

2) Renderosity can take them to the court and vendors can act as witnesses.

More info about TopGFX hosts and owner: http://www.who.is/whois/topgfx.com/

Wild West Domain copyright abuse page: http://www.wildwestdomains.com/gdshop/legal_agreements/show_doc.asp?prog_id=wildwestdomains&pageid=TRADMARK_COPY

Email for copyright infringement: copyrightclaims@wildwestdomains.com

Let's fight them.

You might be interested in a similar situation that just played out in a California federal court.  Here is an over-simplified summary:

An adult entertainment company ("Perfect 10") filed a lawsuit against Rapidshare, alleging among other things that Rapidshare assisted people in infringing its copyrighted works by hosting copyrighted images on its servers.  Perfect 10 tried to get a preliminary injunction -- an order to get Rapidshare to stop the infringement while the case was pending.

Unfortunately, Perfect 10 lost this part of the case.  That does not mean they lost the lawsuit and preliminary injunctions are difficult to obtain.  It appears to me that the parties just settled but that's purely a guess, from reading between the lines of recent activities in the case.

Of note to vendors and Renderosity are these observations by the judge, contained in her order denying the preliminary injunction:

"... the [Rapidshare] Abuse Department was able to find and take down certain files whose download links were identified on the screen shots that Zada attached to his declaration . . . and also proactively searched the third-party websites identified in his declaration, such as filestube.com, and took down any files listed on those sites that appeared to be suspect. In addition, the download links identified in the complaint have also been disabled and the files deleted. The Abuse Department has also begun probatively searching Google and Bing.com for files that may contain the words “RapidShare” and either “Perfect 10” or the names of specific models identified by Zada."* (internal cites omitted)

Some issues with Rapidshare as to Renderosity items:  Can Rapidshare show that it has taken the same efforts to prevent infringement of Renderosity items?  Has Rapidshare searched the third-party websites such as TopGFX or the other warez sites like nigmae?  Has Rapidshare searched Google and Bing.com for files that may contain the words "RapidShare" and either "Renderosity" or models being infringed?

I bet the answer is NO!  That is how these third-party websites can continue to repeatedly make the same infringing posts as fast as Renderosity gets them taken down.

Instead of trying to go after the third-party websites which may based offshore, go after Rapidshare instead!  And Depositfile, and Hotfile, etc. etc.

Disclaimer:  I am a lawyer, but I am not your lawyer.

[edited by mod]

I forgot to add, the person identified by Rapidshare in its public court documents as being with the Rapidshare "Abuse Department" (lol no comment) just happens to be an artist who has been on deviantART for four years.  I won't mention names even though it is public record, just in case Renderosity is nervous about that kind of thing.

Maybe this person would be sympathetic to the position of Renderosity vendors.

 Just an FYI, you can name sites, just please don't post a clickable link or complete URL.  Thanks!

There also GFXworld and avaxhome
i found them in a google search and was mad because some of the stuff there, i bought.

[edited by a mod]

What you guys are talking about is but a pebble in a sea that is incredibly vast.  It's like the Hydra from Greek Myths, kill one, several others pop up.  And by design, sharers like Rapidshare and the like can't really police what is being shared through them.  All they can do is be proactive in taking down offenders.

But again, do vendors have the resources for such a thing?  Maybe some sort of coalition needs to be created for this sole purpose.  I've seen stuff I've bought from here being shared freely and it makes me mad as heck, too.  I've even contacted a few vendors to let them know that this was out there and don't know if anything was ever done.

If you read the May 18, 2010 order in the Perfect 10 case, you see that the judge was persuaded by Rapidshare's argument that it was pro-actively searching for Rapidshare links to infringing material.  So Renderosity could get Rapidshare to do the work for them.  According to Rapidshare, they willingly do this.

Well, post like this only is useful for ome thing, and more in this forum, give free advertising to those sites, so please, to the moderator, delete it.

Note, I know this is not the intention of the thread author.

 yes and no.
The simple fact is, while to us, it's common knowledge that these sites are illegal, not everyone knows that downloading from these sites are wrong.  I spent 3 months in a conversation with a guy that runs a photoshop blog who was sharing links to deviney's brushes on his blog with his tutorials.  He had no idea that they were illegal, or that you could get them legally through DAZ.  He turned around, and started advertising brushes sold at DAZ, Renderosity, and legit free ones around the internet.
Just because those of us who've been around long enough to remember past debacles doesn't mean that everyone does.

Yes, That could be true, but I think, today, that peroson would be very inocent person.

The problem is that those sites live from online advertising, the fact is they don't need people download the illegal content, just need people visit them to make money, so if we put the names of the sites,  if people visit them just only for curiosity and don't thinking to donwload anything, we are making a favor to those sites.

derrys1969

I hate to admit it but your right. It is an impossible task to try and take down these sites. As for Rapidshare, Hotfile and the other file hosters. I can't see there being much hope there either. Because what's to stop a file being shared under a coded name? example: (model name) "My Poser House" gets shared through Rapidshare as "Pauls Wedding". How would Rapidshare and the others manage to spot that one unless it has been reported to them?
And then there's the torrent sites like Demonoid and PirateBay etc. And what about file sharing in countries where prosecution for copyright infringement is nigh impossible?
It is  totally unrealistic to think that a coalition of interested parties would have the collective power to even scratch the surface of copyright piracy.
But there is one way I believe the industry can make some inroads and increase revenue at the same time. And that's by making sure that prices remain competitive enough that the majority of decent people can afford to buy your products.
I believe the vast majority of people are decent and law abiding. So keep it within Mr Averages price range and he/she will continue to spend their money without the need to resort to piracy.

Just my opinion!

 Because this apparently wasn't clear before:

Do not post entire URLs to pirate sites.  PERIOD.

If you have an allegation of a member pirating, do NOT post it in the forum.  Email it to copyrights@renderosity.com and we will take care of it for you.

The domain name holder for tgfx seems to be of the opinion that it's nothing to do with him. He sells hosting packages and  what the buyers do with them is their business. He does however handle the fees they charge, he says to keep a bit of control over disputes.

Even assuming it's possible to close one or more of these places, there are still the torrent sites, which appear to be (so far) bullet proof. 

If you ever find such a site thats hosted, or registered, with godaddy. ( or "domains by proxy inc", thats a godaddy company ) and if your stuff is there, send godaddy a DMCA 

Withiin 2 hours they will close down the domain, and provide you with all the relevant techinical information about the actual host. 

Quote - The domain name holder for tgfx seems to be of the opinion that it's nothing to do with him. He sells hosting packages and  what the buyers do with them is their business. He does however handle the fees they charge, he says to keep a bit of control over disputes.

I am not quite sure how that can be.... he hosts the forum which has a PAID members area, where they pay money to download more content that isnt in the main forum... so, he collects that money via paypal... for stolen content... that should be enough to shut him down.  

That was the point others were making to him in the discussion I read, but he was of the opinion that he was bulletproof as all he is doing (apart from the fees bit) is supplying a service. I wander around various sites keeping an eye out for stuff by my friends. The site mentioned in this thread is the only one that stuff was removed from who had an attitude about it, the others are appologetic and remove links if asked by the copyright holder.

Lzy724, it makes no difference, if a person takes money from the users of his site or not. If they share the content from here for free or for money it is always illegal. So to point on one site and say, close this looks to me like a campaign of the oppsite site. But at the end, all this sites must be closed.**

**

Quote - Lzy724, it makes no difference, if a person takes money from the users of his site or not. If they share the content from here for free or for money it is always illegal. So to point on one site and say, close this looks to me like a campaign of the oppsite site. But at the end, all this sites must be closed.**

**

I wasnt saying it was legal, I agree 100% from other attempts I have seen paypal wont help, however, by telling paypal he is selling access to content of an adult nature perhaps that will help.

I think even Google itself may delete them from their results. That may be requested and may be very effective.

RCTSpanky

Once someone starts charging for illegal products then at least you have a few more options available as it brings more parties into the loop. The payment processor and hosting service cannot be seen to be complicit in black market dealings. PayPal needs to be made aware of what this site is doing. I think this guy might be stupid enough to try and say his charges are for a VIP membership of his site and nothing more. But PayPal only need to see what VIP membership offers to see that it's black marketeering. Close down his payment options and he's dead in the water. If he can't get paid he'll soon shut up shop.

If someone is able to find out what his PayPal e-mail address is we could all then put pressure on PayPal to close his account. If he opens an account elsewhere then we just do the same until he runs out of options.

Just my opinion!

LMAO, you guys make it sound like he's pushing drugs or something.

Allow me to play devil's advocate, if you will...everyone has seen these sites and perused the forums.  Want to know what two of the biggest complaints in regards to paying for content and software in general?

1.  It's too expensive to spend money on something that you didn't get to atleast test drive first before committing to the purchase.

2.  Lack of continued support of the product, even after the vendor has moved on to another version.  Basically, the general feeling is if you bought one version and the vendor comes out with a later version, but you want to continue using the version you have, there is no support ofr it.

Both of these arguments have more to deal with software than content; however, there are several vendors who do charge a lot of money for their content.  Some of it is justified (and you know who you are), some after a while you can tell that the vendor basically used a template from something previous, with little to no obvious modification and then sell it for the same price.  I can name atleast five vendors here where mostly all of the custom characters look the same with the exception of makeup and how it's presented.  And if you support a vendor, like most of us do, and you start noticing this...that kinda pisses you off because it feels like the vendor has gotten lazy and taken your patronage for granted.

Software companies have gotten a lot better in allowing trial versions, but there are always going to those who want something for free, regardless.

But, from experience, you make quality stuff, even if someone downloads it for free, that someone will comeback and buy it or most definitive by your next product.  And if they are planning to use it commercially, they most assuredly will buy it then.

Speaking from my own experiences, I sure everyone has download a ware or two.  But I can also say that the minute, the absolute second I was in a position to pay for it and wanted to use it commercial as well as give credit and support the vendor's hard work, you better believe I did.  Carrara, Poser, and Photoshop are my main examples for myself.  I had used those products as an enthusiast for years until 2005, when I finally took myself more seriously as an artist and paid for everything.

As a counterpoint, I spent over $200 for a plugin from Reiss Studio to import Poser models into Cinema4D.  When they closed up shop after selling the source code to Smith Micro, they brought down their servers which was the only to authorize the plugin, don't respond to emails or snail mails, and their support number is basically a fax machine.  $200 flushed down the toilet.  Doesn't matter if there are better products out there, that's not the point.

Throw stones if you will, but it's a known fact that most do not want to part with hard earned cash over crap.

I realize that a lot of you may not necessary like what I'm saying and you might even demonize me a bit.  Well, so be it.  I don't think it's good at all that sites like this exist.  As someone who is doing their first indie film using a lot of the software purchased and content purchase from here as well as Daz, RDNA and others, I'm fully aware that this can and will happen to me.

But, before we truly oustercize websites like this, let's keep a few things in mind....

1.)  Remember my Hydra analogy.

2.)  Also keep in mind that you are dealing with a very small percentage of people who will not EVER PAY FOR ANYTHING!!!

3.)  Quality, Quality, Quality...I can't tell you how many times I've seen DM Productions content on these sites and ran back to Renderosity or Daz to not only add them as one of my favorite vendors, but to also buy anything they put out, even poses which is something I rarely buy because poses are so easy to do.  But, it's all about quality.  And I do report these things because if I'm willingly to catch something on sale and pay for it, others should be to.  If you can't afford $5 or $10, how the HELL did you get a computer?

4.)  Constantly patrolling these sites until they do something significant enough or the content provider industry as a WHOLE come together to take these down is the best way to slow this practice down.  Less sites availables will definitely send those with the inclination to pay to the pay window.

5.)  Serious artist will pay, regardless.

Just my two (more like twenty) cents.

We content collectors basically fall into two categories:

The Haves:
Those that buy content or willing to buy content.

The If-Its-Free-Its-4-Me Group:
No matter what, they will never pay for the content.

Quote - I think even Google itself may delete them from their results. That may be requested and may be very effective.

All that will do is make them less searchable, thus eliminating you from finding your stuff being shared illegally in the first place.

These sites operate on a "word of mouth" level.  Not being Googled is more of a boon, not a hinderance.  You think TPG would mind it if they couldn't be googled.  All that means is that he'll fly under the radar until someone snitches.

Oh the e-mail address is simple enough you just need to apply for vip membership to get that I would assume and paypal will tell you who is requesting the payment, the same as they would with other transactions on your account. Reading comments elsewhere this site have suspended the VIP membership (until the heat dies down I would assume) . As for a campaign by the other side I would say that this isn't a campaign, it's an attempted defence by the free  sites to stop this moneygrabber expanding his empire, Dissent isn't allowed within his site from what I can make out, and vendors joining as VIP members to keep an eye out for their stuff would (if he gets his wish to kill these other sites ) be turfed out if they complained about their stuff being in there and their IP address blacklisted so they can't get back in. If you don't get in you can't know what is there to raise a DMCA. I am in no way defending the free sites, but if you can see your stuff you can request it's removal and if necessary DMCA the holding site.  From what I hear the owner of this site is claiming to be the copyright holder on stuff from here and daz and anywhere else that content is from that is in his VIP area in an attempt to keep it solely accessable by his members (exclusivity brings more paying members) and is sending DMCA notices to this effect to the file holding sites to get them taken down, once again making sure the files are held elsewhere for his members to access.  While this is great that he is curbing the piracy (in his own greed inspired way) I wouldn't be chuffed to find that a pirate is claiming copyright on MY works for his own greedy ends.

Quote - While this is great that he is curbing the piracy (in his own greed inspired way) I wouldn't be chuffed to find that a pirate is claiming copyright on MY works for his own greedy ends.

You're being nice.  From what I've heard, this guy is scrum, scrum, scrum.

I agree that there are lots of people who won't pay for anything in their life, and that most buyers here understand that they are supporting what they like, and they willingly buy for that.

But we should do as much as we can to educate people and eliminate these robbers that get money from our work. For me they're not drug dealers, but more like museum robbers mixed with lazy parasites.

I guess I could look this up, but how successful was RIAA? I don't hear much about lawsuits anymore...so...was it a successful campaign to stop MP3 downloads?

When I first started out in DAZ/Poser I downloaded some 'free' stuff from newsgroups that turned out to be repackaged pirated items-it can be hard to tell for a noob.  I ended up purchasing the items that I found useful and rebuilt my runtimes from scratch.. .

Quote - I guess I could look this up, but how successful was RIAA? I don't hear much about lawsuits anymore...so...was it a successful campaign to stop MP3 downloads?

Not really, AFAIK.  Lots of foot shooting, negative publicity and people who previously didn't download pirated music suddenly jumping on the bandwagon to do so.

Needless to say, it still goes on.  The British Gvt mooted a new law which would give ISPs the right (rather, obligation) to disconnect or restrict the bandwidth of suspected illegal downloaders.  That's turned into a very acrimonious debate with the law as it was drafted in serious doubt, because there's no proof the "downloader" actually was responsible.  Until a network's security can be proven beyond reasonable doubt, the law looks like it's dead in the water.

In several other countries, internet access is on the way to gaining legal status as a basic human right.  

Quote - You're being nice.  From what I've heard, this guy is scrum, scrum, scrum.

Oh he is, froth at the mouth, megolamaniac scrum,  but so easy to wind up going by what I've heard. It's his way or that of any number of his multiple personallities (there is one very nice friendly one I'm told, but the other voices in his head kick the crud out of it if it dares to voice anything) or your branded a vendor and kicked out ( vendor being akin to lady of the night in a nunnery)

Quote -  That's turned into a very acrimonious debate with the law as it was drafted in serious doubt, because there's no proof the "downloader" actually was responsible.  Until a network's security can be proven beyond reasonable doubt, the law looks like it's dead in the water. 

Yep a nightmare for internet cafes and colleges and uni's allowing students to access their wireless networks

Kinda what I thought...so with all their resources brought to bear for naught, it unfortunately  doesn't look to promising for us to curb our problem either. Not good.

Quote - Kinda what I thought...so with all their resources brought to bear for naught, it unfortunately  doesn't look to promising for us to curb our problem either. Not good.

Just have faith in your work and it's quality.  Trust me, patrons will buy.  I'm not saying to let the WuTheF's of the world get away with what they are doing, but as long as your products are solid, you will always have business.

If it's solid enough the "try before you buy"  brigade will buy it.   It surprised me the amount of those tarred with the pirate brush that do go and buy items if they like them, as they put it, without buyers the encouragement to produce more high quality stuff isn't there, so talented creators are lost to the community and that would mean a poorer Poser / daz world, and as was stated in a comment earlier we would be left with those who sit on their laurels and churn out mind numbing duplicates as one big vendor that I could name does.

Grangehearts

That vendors name would'nt begin with "F" by any chance. Would it?

 A lot of why the RIAA failed is because they didn't really have the majority of artists behind them.  Why?  Because the RIAA leaves them with roughly $0.10 per album purchased.  They make their money from tours and licensing merch.  (There's a reason that KISS is one of the most successful bands ever.  More than a handful of catchy tunes, and ridiculous merch like coffins and limos...that people are BUYING.)

The musician situation is SO much different than what we've got going on here.  Here, at DAZ, RDNA, etc, artists pay a percentage to the brokerage to get more exposure than they would on their own.  If people like your stuff, it will sell.  With musicians, once you sign a contract, unless you're legally savvy, you just gave a production company the rights to your work BEFORE you.  In the 3D world, all artists retain their copyright.  In essence, the RIAA fight was never about musicians.  Yes, some musicians were behind the RIAA 100% in the fight....but the fight was protecting a myriad of interests, with the artists generally being at the bottom :/

If a case such as this ever goes to trial in our 3D world, I hope we will rally behind the artist(s).  Even if we can offer nothing else, our moral support behind them may be what it takes to keep them going.  

Here in the UK we have quite a few solicitors dabbling in ambulance chasing illegal downloaders, problem is that looking at the press it seems quite a few innocent people get accused thus weaking the campaign of these legal companies.

One example wwas an senior couple who had been falsley accused of downloading a gay porn movie.

drakmanover - forgot about that one, that's two then
JenX - brokerage fees are fine , but you've also got to get rid of the perception that is given by some sites that Artist's X, Y & Z are lovies of that site due to the major exposure given to them, e.g vendor of the month three months running doesn't help the perception, nor does the yearly totals of vendor of the month when it's split up between only four venders constantly. Doesn't give much encouragement to others when they see this constantly.

Grangehearts

Your right of course. The major selling sites like this one have their favourites who they like to push all the time. And whilst these artists are generally good. There is a plethera of equally talented artists out there that get hardly any exposure at all.
But I guess the big selling sites have a vested interest in keeping their favourites on the promotional front line. It's a damn shame really!

yep it is, in my case it doesn't bother me as I haven't got round to actually packaging my stuff up anyway. Just create them for my amusement and store them up 

I spend a lot and I mean more than I should on 3D content, but I do it because I believe in the artists who create the content. Not only that, but I also want to be able to access my purchased content years down the line if I need to re-download it from a catastrophic failure. Buying my items from places like DAZ, RDNA and Renderosity affords me that.

Now with that said, I don't believe in the argument that people who pirate are lost sales, people who pirate will never spend the money on items they download for free. Most download for the sake of downloading, people who use the excuse they want to try before they buy are BS'ers. Places like DAZ have a 30 day money back guarantee, you can try before you buy legally.

It saddens me to see talented artists such as Aery Soul stop developing poser content, and while their situation might not be directly tied to piracy, I'm sure many others are and that hurts everyone who loves this hobby.

Quote - Now with that said, I don't believe in the argument that people who pirate are lost sales, people who pirate will never spend the money on items they download for free. Most download for the sake of downloading, people who use the excuse they want to try before they buy are BS'ers. Places like DAZ have a 30 day money back guarantee, you can try before you buy legally.

I respectful disagree with you because I'm one of those people whom have actually done just that.  I've downloaded something and liked it so much, I bought it and I continue to this day to support that vendor because they have quality products.  Everyone has done it.

Denotatively speaking, I never considered myself a "pirate" in the DMCA sense.  Have I downloaded something for free, yep.  Have I used as a hobbyist? Sure.  Did I pay for it later, you better believe it.

The true reality, and both history and statistics show this, that there truly is a very small percentage of downloaders who will never buy for what they download.  Of course vendors want to maximize the most bang for their buck when it comes to their hardwork and they should.  Absolutely.

But the sad truth is that as long as sites exist that has that stuff up, people, whether they intend to pay for it or not, while download it.  We've all done it at some point in time.

I do agree with you that there are people who will never ever pay for downloaded content (IF-IT'S-FREE-IT'S-FOR-ME'ers), but again, that's a very small percentage.

Having said that, if Daz didn't have some sort of mechanism in place to support the "30day back" guarantee, they would be sourly out of business.  Think about it.  I could buy stuff from Daz3d all day, tell them "I didn't like it", they refund my money, and I can quitely keep the product still.

Does that sound like a sensible strategy?  No, of course not.  But, like 'em or hate 'em, Daz has established itself as a juggernaut at this level of 3D.  Just the work they've put into Daz Studio and Carrara has solidified their status in the 3d content industry.  Plus, their customer service is out standing.

There's free Daz stuff at these sites all the time, yet Daz is still striving and continues to be able to offer dynamite alternatives in software packages because of business model is formed around 3D content.  Having created the most used UNIMESHES ever don't hurt either, then they offer them for free.

Carrara, Daz 3D, Bryce, and eventually Hexagon will one day be poised to step into the 3D ring with the likes of 3DSMax, Maya, and Cinema4D (Carrara), Poser (Daz3d), Vue (Bryce Pro), and ZBrush and Modo (Hexagon), and they will still be offered at lower prices than those because of Daz's business model.

I don't think piracy has hurt Daz's business at all, because like dominos, if it hurts Daz, it will in turn hurt Rendo, RDNA, and several others.  I still don't see a lot done with Tekai, Sydney, Miki, and other CP models.

Quote - I guess I could look this up, but how successful was RIAA? I don't hear much about lawsuits anymore...so...was it a successful campaign to stop MP3 downloads?

Roughly %95 of digital music is pirated-- so not so succesful. data from IFPI (**International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

The single success has been with the torrents, where "sharers" are advertising their IP address. The RIAA has been able to identify a bunch of users -- or rather IPs-- and has made this mode of sharing risky for people in the US and a few other places.

There is an effort underway to attack the direct downloaders, but they're a much tougher target. Ultimately, that's where the solution lies-- Rapidshare and the others are not small fry, they're eating up a lot of bandwidth.

For 3d artists, you should know that at this point the film and tv industry is also very concerned about this, and their lawyers are working to get the same sites closed that are bugging you. You've got to figure that Disney lawyers are not dumb about this sort of thing, nor do they sit on their hands. Its just a hard problem-- back in the day, Napster was easy, they hosted stolen content on their servers in the US.

Now, you've got a web bulletin board with a link to a file on a server in some third country. Not at all an easy problem

**

Quote - Roughly %95 of digital music is pirated-- so not so succesful. data from IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

Hmmm, I wonder what the statistic is for this industry.  No matter how you slice it, piracy truly is wrong.  I think some industry suffer more than others.

The same argument can be applied to why Mac elitest honestly think Mac Computers are better than Windows computers and center that argument around "Mac's don't get virus."

However about, Macs aren't as used in the mainstream as Windows PC (not as popular) thus there's no reason hackers have to turn their attention to them.  iPhones, iPods, and iPads will get hacked quicker than iMacs.

Quote - > Quote - I guess I could look this up, but how successful was RIAA? I don't hear much about lawsuits anymore...so...was it a successful campaign to stop MP3 downloads?

Roughly %95 of digital music is pirated-- so not so succesful. data from IFPI (**International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

**

As much as I oppose piracy, I also don't agree with inflating numbers to influence lawmakers or misrepresent the reality of what is going on.

http://www.myce.com/news/copyright-groups-inflate-piracy-numbers-30992/

I live in Spain, a country in which piracy is very usual. We are about of being added to a list of countries that won't receive any DVD or CDs because it is not profitable. So stop justifying piracy, it is bad for everyone.

I know there are many people that wan't to never pay, but their absurd sharing everywhere ends with this: people that may have bought just take it because it's offered to them free lots of times per day, and also because at some point they are not conscious because they end thinking it was released as freeware, or cc, and the author many times becomes anonymous.

Quote -

As much as I oppose piracy, I also don't agree with inflating numbers to influence lawmakers or misrepresent the reality of what is going on.

http://www.myce.com/news/copyright-groups-inflate-piracy-numbers-30992/

When you look at the story you referenced, you'll find that they're talking about something else:

Quote -
Professors warn that piracy lost revenue figures are inflated

The "lost revenue" numbers may well be inflated -- they assume that each illegal download would otherwise have been purchased.

But the [i]extent[/i] of piracy has not been inflated.

Does piracy have an effect on media revenues? It certainly looks that way. Consider the top selling record albums of all time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_worldwide

Big selling records basically disappear in the 2000s, and piracy grows.

We know that for media types where piracy is difficult (first run movies, in the theatre, for example), spending has increased most years, even during this terrible economy, Avatar broke all records.

Nothing that's piratable is breaking any records. .  .

Quote - > Quote -

As much as I oppose piracy, I also don't agree with inflating numbers to influence lawmakers or misrepresent the reality of what is going on.

http://www.myce.com/news/copyright-groups-inflate-piracy-numbers-30992/

When you look at the story you referenced, you'll find that they're talking about something else:

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Professors warn that piracy lost revenue figures are inflated

The "lost revenue" numbers may well be inflated -- they assume that each illegal download would otherwise have been purchased.

But the [i]extent[/i] of piracy has not been inflated.

Does piracy have an effect on media revenues? It certainly looks that way. Consider the top selling record albums of all time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_worldwide

Big selling records basically disappear in the 2000s, and piracy grows.

We know that for media types where piracy is difficult (first run movies, in the theatre, for example), spending has increased most years, even during this terrible economy, Avatar broke all records.

Nothing that's piratable is breaking any records. .  .

I know they are referencing lost revenue, but what I'm trying to get at is that they inflate numbers based on worldwide piracy and use it to try and influence law makers in the US. For example trying to exert pressure on ISPs to block people etc. If 95% of music sold in America was pirated, then music would not exist in this country as there would be no way to make a profit of it.