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ZenfoldorVGI said:
twesterm said:
ZenfoldorVGI said:

Alright, while I hate pirates and piracy, however, we must make sure the punishment fits the crime. These people don't have the intent to harm others with their actions, nor are they attempting to steal or defraud on a large scale.

An 18 year old hacker/child being raped daily in a federal prison, for stealing a copy of DMC4, is not my idea of justice.


Now, that said, in this case, I feel the sentences might have been warranted, considering the level of the violation.

However much we hate and despise these hackers, we shouldn't that a persons life be ruined for a victimless crime they committed, while setting in front of their computer, in their room, watching Futurama and eating cheetos.

Large scale piracy, or piracy for profit is a completely different beef, though, and in this case, I'm not completely reverted to jail time. My fear is this may be a slippery slope which could lead to smaller, and indeed smalltime offenders catching the same charges.

 

That's more a problem of the prison system and not so much a problem of the punishment.  It is unfortunate that these people will become someone's bitch but that doesn't mean they shouldn't get out of their punishment.

That's true, and I've revised my original post to reflect a less hardnosed stance on pirate freedom.

My issue here isn't that I care if pirates who make a profit, go to prison.

Instead, I have a slippery slope issue where we start sending Johnny Smith, age 16, to prison in New York State because he stole 5 computer games off a torrent site.

I'm, instead, for fines for downloaders, with much harsher crimes for profiteers and uploaders.

Yeah, I think that describes my stance better.

 

Oh I agree that the people that just download games (even excessive amounts) shouldn't go to jail but should just be fined and even possibly some sort of probation for the excessive ones.  The people that pirate games and then sell them though deserve jail time though still don't really deserve the treatment they can get in prisons.