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File-Sharing for Personal Use Declared Legal in Portugal
File-Sharing for Personal Use Declared Legal in Portugal
Hoping to curb the ever-increasing piracy figures in Portugal, local anti-piracy outfit ACAPOR reported the IP-addresses of 2,000 alleged file-sharers to the Attorney General last year. This week the Portuguese prosecutor came back with a ruling and decided not to go after the individuals connected to the IP-addresses. According to the prosecutor it is not against the law to share copyrighted works for personal use, and an IP-address is not enough evidence to identify a person.
Wearing T-shirts with the slogan “Piracy is Illegal”, the movie industry sponsored anti-piracy group ACAPOR delivered several boxes full of IP-addresses of alleged ‘illegal’ file-sharers to the Attorney General’s Office last year.
The “evidence” was handed over in two batches and the group demanded the authorities act against 2,000 alleged pirates.
“We are doing anything we can to alert the government to the very serious situation in the entertainment industry,” ACAPOR commented at the time, adding that “1000 complaints a month should be enough to embarrass the judiciary system.”
However, a year later it turns out that ACAPOR’s actions have backfired and the anti-piracy group is now facing the embarrassment.
The Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DIAP) looked into the complaints and the prosecutor came back with his order this week. Contrary to what the anti-piracy group had hoped for, the 2,000 IP-addresses will not be taken to court.
Worse for ACAPOR, the prosecutor goes even further by ruling that file-sharing for personal use is not against the law.
“From a legal point of view, while taking into account that users are both uploaders and downloaders in these file-sharing networks, we see this conduct as lawful, even when it’s considered that the users continue to share once the download is finished.”
The prosecutor adds that the right to education, culture, and freedom of expression on the Internet should not be restricted in cases where the copyright infringements are clearly non-commercial.
In addition, the order notes that an IP-address is not a person.
The ruling explains that the person connected to the IP-address “is not necessarily the user at the moment the infringement takes place, or the user that makes available the copyrighted work, but rather the individual who has the service registered in his name, independent of whether this person using it or not”
This means that the account holders connected to these 2,000 IPs are not necessarily all copyright infringers, similar to orders we’ve seen in the United States previously.
Finally, the prosecutor ruled that even if file-sharing for personal use would be seen as illegal, the artists themselves should explicitly declare that there are not authorizing copying for personal use.
ACAPOR boss Nuno Pereira is disappointed with the decision and he accuses the prosecutor of dropping the case because it’s the easy way out.
“Personally I think the prosecutors just found a way to adapt the law to their interest – and their interest is not having to send 2,000 letters, hear 2,000 people and investigate 2,000 computers,” Pereira says.
Another way to frame it is that the prosecutor adapted the law in the interest of the public at large, which is generally speaking not a bad idea.
While the decision is hopeful for Portuguese file-sharers, it is still a matter of how the law is interpreted. For now, however, it is save to assume that Portugal is spared from the mass-BitTorrent lawsuits we’ve seen in the United States, Germany and the UK.
-TF
Kopimism
Kopimism accepts everyone and you can even continue to be your current religion and also be a Kopimist. There is nothing in our rules that stops you and probably nothing in your rules either.
It is the sharing of information that made humans as good as we are now and Kopimism is about that. Sharing and making us all better. That's something we can all agree on.
copy, share, seed
copy, share, seed….. thx,
https://www.facebook.com/kopimi.il
https://twitter.com/kopimi
irc://irc.telecomix.org/kopimi
http://www.dailymotion.com/group/kopimi
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Israel Kopimi
Kopimism, Sweden's Pirate Religion, Begins to Plunder America 'Kopimism' gives internet piracy a place to worship By Jason Koebler April 20, 2012 RSS Feed Print The symbol of Kopimism, a religion dedicated to information sharing. The symbol of Kopimism, a religion dedicated to information sharing. A Swedish religion whose dogma centers on the belief that people should be free to copy and distribute all information—regardless of any copyright or trademarks—has made its way to the United States. Followers of so-called "Kopimism" believe copying, sharing, and improving on knowledge, music, and other types of information is only human—the Romans remixed Greek mythology, after all, they say. In January, Kopimism—a play on the words "copy me"—was formally recognized by a Swedish government agency, raising its profile worldwide. [Rapidshare: Megaupload's Pirates are Unwelcome] "Culture is something that makes people feel much better and makes people appreciate their world in a different way. Knowledge is also something we should copy regardless of the law," says Isak Gerson, the 20-year-old founder of Kopimism. "It makes us better when we share knowledge and culture with each other." More than 3,500 people "like" Kopimism on Facebook, and thousands more practice its sacred ritual of file sharing. According to its manifesto, private, closed-source software code and anti-piracy software are "comparable to slavery." Kopimist "Ops," or spiritual leaders, are encouraged to give counsel to people who want to pirate files, are banned from recording and should encrypt all virtual religious service meetings "because of society's vicious legislative and litigious persecution of Kopimists." Official in-person meetings must happen in places free of anti-Kopimist monitoring and in spaces with the Kopimist symbol—a pyramid with the letter K inside. To be initiated new parishioners must share the Kopimist symbol and say the sacred words "copied and seeded." The gospel of the church has begun to spread, with Kopimist branches in 18 countries. An American branch of the religion was recently registered with Illinois and is in the process of gaining federal recognition, according to Christopher Carmean, a 25-year-old student at the University of Chicago and head of the U.S. branch. "Data is what we are made of, data is what defines our life, and data is how we express ourselves," says Carmean. "Forms of copying, remixing, and sharing enhance the quality of life for all who have access to them. Attempts to hinder sharing are antithetical to our data-driven existence." [ISPs Close to Implementing System to Punish Piracy] About 450 people have registered with his church, and about 30 of them are actively practicing the religion, whose symbols include Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V—the keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste. It's no surprise the religion was born in Sweden—it has some of the laxest copyright laws in the world. The Swedish Pirate Party has two seats in the European Parliament, and The Pirate Bay, a Swedish website that's one of the world's largest portals to illegal files, has avoided being shut down for years. Gerson is happy to allow people who want to open their own branches of Kopimism to copy its symbols and religious documents. "There's been a couple people that asked me [to start congregations], but I tell them they shouldn't ask. You don't need permission," he says. "It's a project, and I want projects to be copied, so I'm happy when people copy without asking." Most Kopimists say they realized they were practicing the religion before they found it. "There are many people who are like me, who always held the Kopimist ideals, but hadn't yet heard of the official church," says Lauren Pespisa, a web developer in Cambridge, Mass., who gave a speech about the religion in March to a group of anti-copyright activists called the Massachusetts Pirate Party. "I think some people are like me and have embraced it officially and publicly, but some people believe in it and don't really want to mix religion and politics."
'Kopimism' gives internet piracy a place to worship
The symbol of Kopimism, a religion dedicated to information sharing.
A Swedish religion whose dogma centers on the belief that people should be free to copy and distribute all information—regardless of any copyright or trademarks—has made its way to the United States.
Followers of so-called "Kopimism" believe copying, sharing, and improving on knowledge, music, and other types of information is only human—the Romans remixed Greek mythology, after all, they say. In January, Kopimism—a play on the words "copy me"—was formally recognized by a Swedish government agency, raising its profile worldwide.
[Rapidshare: Megaupload's Pirates are Unwelcome]
"Culture is something that makes people feel much better and makes people appreciate their world in a different way. Knowledge is also something we should copy regardless of the law," says Isak Gerson, the 20-year-old founder of Kopimism. "It makes us better when we share knowledge and culture with each other."
More than 3,500 people "like" Kopimism on Facebook, and thousands more practice its sacred ritual of file sharing. According to its manifesto, private, closed-source software code and anti-piracy software are "comparable to slavery." Kopimist "Ops," or spiritual leaders, are encouraged to give counsel to people who want to pirate files, are banned from recording and should encrypt all virtual religious service meetings "because of society's vicious legislative and litigious persecution of Kopimists."
Official in-person meetings must happen in places free of anti-Kopimist monitoring and in spaces with the Kopimist symbol—a pyramid with the letter K inside. To be initiated new parishioners must share the Kopimist symbol and say the sacred words "copied and seeded."
The gospel of the church has begun to spread, with Kopimist branches in 18 countries.
An American branch of the religion was recently registered with Illinois and is in the process of gaining federal recognition, according to Christopher Carmean, a 25-year-old student at the University of Chicago and head of the U.S. branch.
"Data is what we are made of, data is what defines our life, and data is how we express ourselves," says Carmean. "Forms of copying, remixing, and sharing enhance the quality of life for all who have access to them. Attempts to hinder sharing are antithetical to our data-driven existence."
[ISPs Close to Implementing System to Punish Piracy]
About 450 people have registered with his church, and about 30 of them are actively practicing the religion, whose symbols include Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V—the keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste.
It's no surprise the religion was born in Sweden—it has some of the laxest copyright laws in the world. The Swedish Pirate Party has two seats in the European Parliament, and The Pirate Bay, a Swedish website that's one of the world's largest portals to illegal files, has avoided being shut down for years.
Gerson is happy to allow people who want to open their own branches of Kopimism to copy its symbols and religious documents.
"There's been a couple people that asked me [to start congregations], but I tell them they shouldn't ask. You don't need permission," he says. "It's a project, and I want projects to be copied, so I'm happy when people copy without asking."
Most Kopimists say they realized they were practicing the religion before they found it.
"There are many people who are like me, who always held the Kopimist ideals, but hadn't yet heard of the official church," says Lauren Pespisa, a web developer in Cambridge, Mass., who gave a speech about the religion in March to a group of anti-copyright activists called the Massachusetts Pirate Party. "I think some people are like me and have embraced it officially and publicly, but some people believe in it and don't really want to mix religion and politics."
kopimism, what is it all about… read me
I am an Op. irc://irc.telecomix.org/kopimi
If you are thinking of joining the temple/church, you should read our values, as well as the first half of the Constitution in whatever language you prefer. If you agree with the mission of the temple/church and the values we hold sacred, you can immediately start calling yourself a Kopimist! If you would like to formalize your membership with the temple/church, first you should copy one of the Kopimi pyramid images from here and then register with us using the form https://kopimism.wordpress.com/%D7%94%D7%A6%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%A3/
You can also add me on https://www.facebook.com/kopimi.il
Thank you.
Worship through meditation is sufficient to be considered part of the Kopimist community. A person who identifies with our philosophy, whether formally registered with the Temple/Church of Kopimism or not, is considered a Kopimist.
Kopimism is based on a few basic axioms, which in turn can be traced back to our strong defense of the intrinsic value of information, We ascribe this value to all information irrespective of its content. Since information and its intrinsic value are so sacred, Kopimists recognize the following axioms:
- Copying of information is ethically right.
- Dissemination of information is ethically right.
- Copymixing (copying and/or remixing) is a sacred kind of copying, more so than the perfect digital copying, because it expands and enhances the existing wealth of information.
- Copying or remixing information communicated by another person is seen as an act of respect and a strong expression of acceptance and Kopimistic faith.
- The Internet is holy.
- Code is law.
You do not need to change anything when becoming a kopimist. Stay believing in whatever you believe in, whether it is in God, Jesus, Moses, Muhammad or anyone else. We are not a religion that provides "all" the morality a person needs. Your morals come from you and/or whatever God you believe in.
Philosophy
Copying is a sacred activity. Copying accurate knowledge, in a variety of formats, for the purposes of education helps the world. My ideal future is one where I own a library of all the books ever written that anyone, poor or rich, can access at the push of a button for no cost.
It is important to note that, I personally believe that knowledge is sacred. The ability to reproduce the information one possesses is sacred.
Kopimism is a religion, one might even define it as a cause. Like most religions, Kopimism is against stealing. With respect to information, Kopimism disagrees with many copyright holders usage of the word “stealing”. We wish for the creators of content to receive due credit for the information they create, as is done in academia. We also believe that creators and owners of content have the right to sell their content.
Kopimists are interested in everyone’s sacred right to reproduce and distribute information. Copyrighted content, or patents, conflict with these beliefs. These legal instruments, when applied to content or invention, insist that information, digital or tangible, cannot be copied or distributed respectively.
Our issue with content owners occurs once a copy of the content is distributed to the user. We believe that this copy, once in the users possession, belongs to the user and that the user can copy and distribute this information at his or her discretion (with due credit where credit applies). An example of this would be a recipe in a cook book. Say there is a cook book for sale at a book store and someone sees a recipe on page 8. Kopimists believe that the reader of the book does not need to get permission from the author of the book to give this recipe to a friend. Furthermore, if my grandmother has an old family recipe that is exactly the same as a recipe on page 11 in the same book, a kopimist does not believe my grandmother would be guilty of copyright/patent infringement.
Kopimism also takes issue with many things that are copyrighted. We do not believe that the number one can be copyrighted, or the number two, ad nauseum. Most people inherently believe the same about all numbers, or even mathematics, when presented to them in this way. This Kopimist belief causes issue with owners of digital content. All digital content, i.e., mp3s, pdf’s, avi’s, etc, exist on a computer as a single integer. You could give me a digital copy of any file such as an mp3 of Mozart’s Cello Sonata in D Major performed by Yo Yo Ma, and I could show you a single number, in a text editor or on paper, that would be considered protected by the copyright holder of Yo Yo Ma’s music. Any digital file can be converted back and forth to its corresponding integer. Furthermore there are many integers, hundreds of thousands, that your computer would read as Yo Yo Ma’s music.
In short, many digital content owners believe that a number can be owned. Even though Kopimists believe that information, i.e., personal information, can be keep secret and that authors have the right to sell the books they write, we fundamentally disagree that this type of (digital) ownership can be held over the integers.
קופימיזם ישראל Ctrl+c Ctrl+v 
