Why do I love this?

Especially saying this publically on a free culture site, this can turn into an excuse to label you evil and sue you.

Interesting site. I totally grok distaste for aspects of the status quo, but consider the implications of 'piracy'.

It preserves the market share of non-free software and content formats instead of promoting better alternatives. Also as a thing touched on it gives the powers that be ammunition in their smear campaign in which we're all lumped together.

The culture issue is a big one, but I'm not too worried at the moment because I have a tv license and several radios and can attend gigs, opera, ballet, recitals, orchestral performances, plays etc etc. Not to mention a library of vinyl and cds. Furthermore it seems that on the net the ability to learn from and partake in progressive movements gets far easier each year.

I guess I'm left with the question though, is the trend in access to culture going in the right direction?

Edit (nearly forgot): The law is a means to an end: justice. When law fails and is counter-productive, each of us must balance the risks, and sometimes the greater good requires us to break the law. I don't know what those warez are, so maybe I'm uninformed in assuming there's nothing I need that I have to obtain illegally.

Well maybe I've gotten a bit over myself in the original post. It comes out of a feeling of distate (and even anger in fact) similar to what you described democrates, against the industry guilty of independantly criminalizing and then harrassing individuals. Sometimes it seems as if it doesn't even matter whether you break the law or not, for you to be targetted and attacked "for breaking the law".

What are those who actually do get attacked like this to do then? How should they react? How should the rest of us react?

Dropping the ball, although that's probably a bad thing here, is the way I reacted in the original post.

But I still believe the best way to beat the system is to use it against itself, which is what copyleft does. Just breaking yourself out of the copyright system isn't such an effective strategy for sure, so I don't recommend it. Even in the original post, at least, I said the first option is copyleft. The second option is a personal choice of everyone, comply, break out or go without.

Oh and btw, I in fact detest the idea of "ware*", that is the methods of cr@cking proprietary software to work fully for you. When it comes to software I basically don't see any justification of doing so with so much copylefted Free Software available.

And when it comes to music I do prefer free culture or at least something I can legally download and listen to, or just listen to (such are the internet radion stations).

Well, you agree with them, but don't agree with their methods, but anyway it makes you happy to see that someone is doing something for the cause that you also believe in. I don't see anything wrong with that. There are also some studies that have shown that illegal copying might be increasing sales of the materials being copied, so it might be good for both sides after all. If so, the ones being aggressive here are the content producers, with their witch hunting, the other side is simply working for the common good.

From http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198000211&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

Raikes, speaking last week at the Morgan Stanley Technology conference in San Francisco, said a certain amount of software piracy actually helps Microsoft because it can lead to purchases by individuals who otherwise might never have been exposed to the company's products.

"We understand that in the long run the fundamental asset is the installed base of people who are using our products," Raikes said. "What you hope to do over time is convert them to licensing the software."

Raikes said Microsoft isn't about to abandon efforts to track down those who illegally copy and use its products. However, he said Microsoft has to balance that approach with the recognition that users of purloined software could one day become legitimate customers.

Maybe a link to the fsf/unesco list of free software on these sites wouldn't be such a bad idea...

That's probably right, but that then also means that unauthorized distribution of non-free software promotes non-free software and even its vendors.. which is why it's best for us to avoid both the legal and illegal use of it.

And that's really not hard as far as software is concerned.