We Need to Talk About Plagiarism and Piracy on Steemit, D-Tube and View.ly
I work in Hollywood as a writer, director and producer, and although I have my problems with how Intellectual property laws have been formulated and dislike the cronyism between the State and Hollywood, I do not condone plagiarism or theft of IP. Intellectual property - and the laws that surround it - are important pieces of a complex, economic puzzle that have been erected to not only protect the big players in the business, but also the little ones.
As a small producer, if I were to create something that could not be protected in some small way from the parasites that would profit off of my work without compensation, then it would be incredibly difficult to not only profit from an original work, but also prove that I was the one who created it. The blockchain solves the latter problem, but it has expanded the problem Torrent gave producers over a decade ago... distributed theft.
ENTER DTUBE:
DTube is awesome and View.ly will probably be just as awesome, but the distributed nature of these technologies has the power to amplify the copying and theft of other people's work. Presenting someone else's work as your own, or copying a piece of work to profit off of it is a deceitful and slimy business and I've noticed that as soon as DTube was made live to the public, full films started showing up on the platform.
I've found The Matrix trilogy, Ghost in the Shell, The Big Lebowski, Game of Thrones and others! Some people will hide behind the subterfuge of revolutionary language that they're fighting the State or corporations or greed that justifies their parasitism and behavior that will turn Steem into an ecosystem that will quickly be painted as a place for criminality. All that these people are doing are ruining Steem and profiting off the backs of other people's work without compensation. Where I'm from that's called either theft or slavery.
I don't want DTube, View.ly, Steemit, Busy or the Steem itself to be considered by corporations and the State, as places where people come to steal intellectual property.
Sharing is allowed between friends, but as soon as it becomes a public venue where commerce is taking place, the law is very clear, you're committing IP theft... PIRACY.
THE PUBLIC LEDGER:
Steem is a public ledger. That means that all the information that is stored on the blockchain can be accessed by third party websites! That's the point of it as a social network. That means that anytime anyone accesses a copyrighted film or downloads it or comments on it can be seen! You might as well mail a letter to the Federal government that you're committing piracy, whether you're a viewer or an uploader.
From the Wiki:
While steemit.com is the first and reference front-end website interface for the blockchain content of Steem, the network's open and permissionless nature allows third-party websites and apps to connect and interact with the Steem database. Several have been created by third parties. These offer alternative interface designs or features such as Instagram-style image posting. Busy.org is a Steem-interacting website with an alternative user interface. eSteem is a Steem-interacting Android and iOS app. A forum-style application called chainBB is also available.
CALL TO ACTION:
I'm calling on people who want to support creators - even greedy corporations - to flag any and all full films that are protected by copyright on Steemit where it's blatantly obvious. The films mentioned above should provide a good litmus test if you are wondering what I mean by blatantly obvious.
If you have oodles of Steem Power - I'M LOOKING AT YOU WHALES - you have the capacity to shutter those accounts and make the films far less visible. I would go so far as to say that people who want to keep Steem clean for everyone in this regard should band together to tackle this problem. We should not only support creators by giving, but we should support them by making sure Steemit and DTube and View.ly do not condone piracy, so that the world can look upon these communities and trust them.
WE'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS OUR REPUTATION:
This is a problem that will only grow, and when the US Government takes notice, and it will, Steem and its users will have a serious problem on their hands.
Those who commit piracy on Steem platforms should be reported to Steemit and their accounts should be deleted without warning.
Theft is wrong, even on the blockchain.
Phil
i do not see a problem with putting stuff you love on the blockchain if you give a bit to the creators for what they have done. With the internet the big companies are behind on the technology. With the block chain piracy will not exist anymore when the big wigs come on here. They will know and love how easy it is to share stuff. It is evolve or die. No matter how hard someone forces another to keep things the same it will end up in self destruction. It is the corporations that are participating in a luddite rebellion instead of a bunch of peasants. I would love for a spotify to come out for tv entertainment where it HAS every single piece of entertainment that exists. The setup they have now is retarded where you need to have 10 different accounts to view only 10% of the content of entertainment. And you cannot select everything because they switch what they have around making you wait for stuff that might not even come. They can set up a free viewing of content for a tip. Or even get rewarded when you watch a specific series all the way through or multiple times. You could be the creator of this and revolutionize all tv and entertainment. We will overcome this era. This could be the place on dtube I saw your flag and I understand your woes. I am not looking for moolah for my dtube posts just to share a piece of my childhood which was a very special time in entertainment. The content I want moolah on is my regular posts. Flag as you may friend.
I used to really enjoy watching movies, I'd go to the video store and pick out 2-3 new releases to watch just about every weekend. Then all of a sudden all of the video stores closed down and I was forced to subscribe to Netflix and itunes for movies. I've just about given up on those platforms as everytime I look for movies to watch, which I have no problem paying for, I can't find much of anything that interests me. It's been a real loss to me, a huge disappointment to say the least. Illegal sites offer much greater selection and so it's no wonder that people turn to them for choice. I'm sure that there are lots of customers like me who are willing to legally buy their entertainment but who wants to pay for sub standard content. The industry is not releasing content in a way that satisfies customer demand for variety. There are so many movies and documentaries that are nowhere to be found except maybe in the cinema. What if you prefer watching movies at home but don't want to choose from their crappy offerings? I end up just watching YouTube videos which have there limitations and can't replace movies for true entertainment value. Especially now with all of the extreme censorship and demonetization that's going on there. It was kind of exciting to see Game of Thrones on Steemit but I know that there are IP laws that make this illegal. Are intellectual property laws controlling the industry to such an extent as to stifle and suffocate the free flow of creativity, inspiration and art? I feel like a hungry child being starved of creative juice? When will the powers that be stop feeding us shit on a regular basis and throwing us the odd bone here and there to keep us interested and engaged?
I agree. Copyright laws are too stringent and hinder a lot of creativity and that the industry is changing too slowly to meet demand. Although, the film industry is way ahead of the music industry when it comes to adoption comparatively. Film companies have embraced streaming and digital downloads. By contrast, the music industry fought it tooth and nail, which anyone could see was a stupid fight to have.
Law changes much slower than technology, but I don't think that's an excuse to profit off of someone else's work. Sharing is different. What's happening on Steem and D-Tube is not sharing, it's profiting off of other's blood, sweat, tears, money and ideas without compensation.
I'm arguing for us on Steem to recognize that films are products that represent the culmination of many artists and investors and that we should respect that. If we want to live in a world where Cryptocurrency plays a major role in the economy we're going to have to police ourselves and think about those who make digital products as actual people who have lives and careers. If you're enriching your life monetarily or by the entertainment value these films / programs bring you, support them either paying or rejecting those that attempt to profit from them without the consent of the artists and companies that produce them.
i'm with you guys. the blockchain and its decentralization is what makes the status quo scared. we're tired of being pigeon-holed into certain avenues for entertainment. it's now time for the public to bite back. the slow migration from the censorship of the quasi-statist google and facebook is over.
So much this. Evolve or die. The music industry didn't die because of .mp3's, neither will it die because of blockchains and a new way of sharing things.
You are most likely correct. I never understood people plagiarizing. I.P. needs to be protected.
Thanks for the support. I hold a lot of hope for platforms like Steem and I don't want short term thinking to hurt this incredible platform. Small creators need technologies like this.
Do me a favor and re-steem this since you agree. I think this kind of uploading is going to get out of control fast.
Yes, it could. Perhaps many are not taking seriously what plagiarism is and how I.P. laws work. I will spread the word. A good friend of mine writes novels (The Edge of Beyond), song video's (Rattle the Cage, this fall) and movies so I am sensitive to your cause.
Thanks! I appreciate it. Very cool about your friend. I'll check him out.
Ok. Let me know what you think. Paramount pictures has shown some interest in The Edge Of Beyond (Science Fiction future Earth). His music video/short film is being filmed at the end of September with some SAG actors. He wants to enter the film festivals this winter and spring
Well said. The content on steemit is 99.9 % a waste of time. A lot of it is copied. A lot. I am surprised that a whole lot more flagging is not going on. I flagged someone once. They down voted all my posts till their power ran out. There will need to be an AI bot going around punishing those who do this. For Steemit to intervene, it will likely have a lot higher active user numbers before this can happen.
You're probably right. I hope the developers are thinking about this seriously.
I urge everybody don't up vote stolen content. I also believe that everyone running an IPFS gateway will get problems soon if this Hollywood plagiarism is not stopped soon. The law enforcement will go after everyone running an ipfs gateway. Dtube and viewly need IPFS as backbone and the usage of IPFS may be banned or criminalized if it is used for spreading Hollywood Blockbusters.
I feel like this button HAS to be pushed, get the popcorn and hold on.
Deleted accounts equal censorship, maybe flag and inform them but deleted accounts I cannot agree too.
Deleting accounts that commit theft is not censorship. It's an act of defense against theft.
I see every Cinema packed. Where I live we have a cinema showing endless 50 year old movies with 50-100% full houses.
Most people want to go to see a film on the big screen and you will never change that. There will also be a little piracy but most folks are in favour of paying. You see it happening with subscriptions for content, people are willing to pay.
Without arguing for or against, I disagree with your statement. It is censorship and no piracy is not equal to theft.
Your right to say (post) stuff ends when you violate the rights of others. Posting material that isn't yours to make a profit - which is what's occurring on Steemit and D-Tube - is LITERALLY reaping profits that don't belong to you which is a violation of someone's property rights. Just because it happens to be in the form of 1's and 0's and in text doesn't change that. As such, you forfeit your right to have an account.
Those "rights" are made up and depend on jurisdiction. Just because it is the law doesn't make it right or a right.
I'm clearly speaking to someone who doesn't have a moral compass and will use any superficial argument to do what he wants, like profiting off the backs of others on a public blockchain. Good luck when the publicly displayed, immutable record of your piracy gets found by the people you're taking from.
You're not making an argument, and no I don't buy into your holier than thou morals. As I said I don't believe that anyone can claim a string of digital 1s and 0s as their own and prevent others from copying that number. It's too bad you've bought into that way of thinking, perhaps others will have an open mind and we can progress as a society.
I also believe that posting content that isn't yours is completely wrong. However, instabans shouldn't be a thing. Even Youtube stays away from doing stuff like that.
Interesting, I saw dtube and wanted to try it today, so i uploaded an episode of Rick and Morty, simply because I love the show and want to share it with people around the world who other wards wouldn't get the chance to see it, is this a wrong use of this service?
..and now Rick and Morty will forever be on the Blockchain! 100 thousand years morty, all their adventure, on the chain morty forever and ever. rick and morty for ever 3000!
Rick is the best, especially dipped Szechwan sauce, but yes. You're committing piracy on a public blockchain. I don't think it's worth it and it's wrong. RICK AND MORTY FOREVER!
If I could play devil's advocate for a second, maybe the law is wrong. In Star Trek they could replicate anything isn't that piracy? Instead of replicating matter we can replicate strings of 0s and 1s. Maybe if something can be reproduced at no cost than economically it should have 0 value, or the only value is in the production not the finished product. Maybe your business model is wrong and you should be funded some other way. The argument that you can't make money any other way is lazy, there are many open source companies that put food on the table and the same can be said about musicians and vloggers.
I agree that replication of films renders them less valuable but that doesn't change the fact that by placing them on D-Tube where you can earn directly from that upload is profiting off the artistic work of others. THAT is lazy. The law might in fact be wrong, but that also doesn't change anything. Profiting off of other people's work without consent is immoral because it enriches one person while harming the ones who made it and took the risk to fund it. Films are extremely expensive to make, even the cheap ones.
I'm not arguing for infinite copyright, or that the law is properly formulated or that sharing is wrong. I have no problem with sharing between friends. If I make a copy and hand it to a friend, that's different than me infinitely replicating something and then earning money off of it. Bootleg away, just don't start selling the bootleg, which is what people are doing by uploading other people's work on D-Tube. If you can't make your own content, you shouldn't enrich yourself with someone else's artistic work.
As a final thought, we don't live in the Star Trek universe, but if this demonstrates anything, it's that the economics of Star Trek are horse shit. Resources will always be scarce for one reason or another, whether by fiat or via the forces of nature and people's time and labor matter precisely because they are finite. Even though that time and labor might not be valuable to everyone, it strikes me as rude beyond the pale to shrug it off and say, "well since you've got your business model wrong it's okay to just take what you made and sell it myself."
I think the sooner we embrace piracy as a species the better. Linus Torvalds is making lots of money without having to charge people for linux. People uploading to the blockchain are providing a service that the content creators are not offering, that is why they are making money and not the original owners. IF the original owners posted their own material people would be inclined to subscribe to that channel and support them. They are filling a need in the market so it is right for them to be paid.
Not everything the market provides or tolerates is good and proper. There are things the market is not good at or is too good at, which is why WE, as our own agents have to police ourselves unless we want the state to do it for us. Stop using econ speak to justify unethical behavior.
There's nothing unethical, you only think that because you were brought up in a society with laws written to that effect. Learn to think for yourself.
What a cop out.
This post has received a 0.78 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.
I do agree with your post, IP theft/plagiarism is a serious issue, which we must not underestimate.
But I think Steem or Dtube don't really add to the problem. It has been possible for so long to copy movies, books and music, and there are companies fighting this.
By following accounts, retrieving IP addresses and getting information from ISP's they have already closed quite a few sites down.
I don't see anything different here, they will most likely shift their gaze here once it's really growing.