92 year old WWII vet bootlegs 300,000 DVDs and sends them to American soldiers in Afghanastan

[SteewpidZombie]

After reading the article...all I can say is...that guy is a hero in his own way. We should be giving him a Military Medal made from melted down DVDs and compressed into a unique design of a Soldier holding a Movie Reel in his hand. Because this guy is AWESOME!

 

[TheBoulder]

On topic, I think the MPAA going after this guy would be PR suicide. Plain and simple. So of course, they're going to do it.

They will. The way copyright law works, if you know about the violation and don't go after it, you lose the right to go after future violators. Odds are, this will end with a quick, undisclosed settlement.

Can you provide a source on this? Something that awesome sounds too good to be true.

OT: This guy is a total bro. I don't give 2 shits if it's illegal, legal =/= right.

 

[NiPah]

Sorry, I forgot the other better option. Where was it?

There are lots of options, move to another country, do not pay taxes (this can be done legally, just don't buy or sell items in the US). Or a less restrictive option would be to rally against the wars and military, protest, stand out side and let your voice be heard, just attack the people who are really responsible for the war and not the soldiers.

If they chose to go through unnecessary hardships and psychological impacts it does matter when it comes to how sorry I feel for them.

You should feel sorry for anyone who is under psychological hardships, from drug addict to nun human compassion should be given to all.

Not really. They could just refuse to keep it up and get in trouble for it. I'm not here to make bad life choices easier for them, much less ADD to the impression that it is a praiseworthy thing if I don't think it's a good idea.

I still find it cringe worthy for someone to say joining the military is a "bad life choice". If history shows us anything it is the necessity of a strong military, and the fact that war will come. I may not agree with OIF or OEF (something I blame on the politicians), but we will always need a military and soldiers. While I would like to believe America does not need a strong military and the time of wars and killing has passed, any such thoughts are a helpless delusion in the face of the realities of our world.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Yarr, this man get the Jack Sparrow pirate medal.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

do not pay taxes (this can be done legally, just don't buy or sell items in the US)

You left out "Don't own property in the US, don't earn income in the US, don't invest money in the US, don't inherit money in the US" and probably an entire laundry list of other things you'd have to not do..."

You know, I REALLY don't get why this guy is considered a "hero". He's breaking the law, and flaunting the fact that he can't be punished for it. Yes, its great that soldiers can have movies to watch, but why didn't he legally buy the movies?

Because he wants to be a criminal hero, deluding himself into believing that doing the wrong thing for the right reason is the right thing to do.

Well, he's an anti-hero. Which has 'hero' in it. Perhaps it's the fact that people just dislike the movie companies.

Stealing from thieves.

 

[NiPah]

I'm curious, why do you bother to reply when you're going to be dishonest? I addressed that possibility, you just left that part of my post out. It isn't reasonably possible to move to another country. You apparently also never heard of a thing called income, nor did it apparently ever cross your mind that living requires purchasing items for most people. You're full of it.

No, I fully recognize the need for all of these things, and I also understand the fact that a military is required to keep all of these things. If you don't want to support the military, or our government, then you will have to accept some hardships. You said you can't do any of these things without hurting yourself, well that's obvious, also means your points are hollow when you're not willing to do something that's painful to you in the name of something you believe in.

Who exactly forced them to sign up? Not me.

No one forced the drug addict to take that first drug either, doesn't mean you shouldn't feel bad for them when they're suffering.

It's a bad life choice. Said it again. If it puts them under such terrible hardships, what else would you call it?

Risky? Doctors are put under more risk of being sick but I wouldn't call that job a bad life choice.

Which doesn't make their personal choice a good one. Glad we cleared that up.

To what criteria are you using the term "good" in this? A job that is safer and does not run the risk of PTSD and death? If so how would you categorize jobs such as Police, Firefighters, and medical staff?
You also mentioned how much value you they have to you as a person, something along the lines of active service members in the current wars do not effect me, can you elaborate on that for me.

Do you also like to believe in strawmen?

It seems I do, would you say the United States does not need a military?

 

[godofallu]

Old man becomes the king of the pirates.

But not for power or wealth or personal gain. No he does it for the good of others.

Interesting. Very interesting. I just hope the MPAA decides not to sue for once.

 

[NiPah]

You know, I REALLY don't get why this guy is considered a "hero". He's breaking the law, and flaunting the fact that he can't be punished for it. Yes, its great that soldiers can have movies to watch, but why didn't he legally buy the movies?

Quantity, he reasoned (at least we're guessing his reasons were) that if he did not pay for the DVDs he could send movies to a vastly larger group of people.

Because he wants to be a criminal hero, deluding himself into believing that doing the wrong thing for the right reason is the right thing to do.

I'll ask you too, why do you feel this was morally wrong?
Also what punishment do you feel he deserves, per the US legal system he will spend the rest of his life in prison and all of his assets will be handed over to the copyright holders.

 

[ex951753]

My god... and here I thought The escapist had a more sophisticated forum group. I swear 90% of the people posted in here and the "counter arguments" they give sounds like they were made by CoD loving teenagers.

Kudos to Mortai to be one of the few who manage to be able to look at this news from a neutral prospective.

Also, you're either for piracy or against it. Choosing when to ignore the law just makes you a hypocrite.

 

[NiPah]

Ah, so in other words you dislike the fact that the world has more options than your narrow view allows for.

No, if I don't want to support the military and some actions of the government I can go ahead and do so anyway because it isn't all black and white.

It also does not make my points hollow because I'm smart enough to know that extreme costs for not very strong beliefs is not a very good way to do things. But hey, you're not here to be honest, are you? You're going to ignore logic and attack me personally. Good job. Address the points, not the person making them. Or is logic too much of a problem?

You?re reaping the rewards of our military and yet say they are unnecessary, I provide some options on how to avoid the need for the US military and yet you say they are too great of hardships (to be fair to my point I also stated protesting was a way to fight this system), and in the end you have no compassion for those who suffer to bring you the lifestyle you enjoy.
That?s what makes your points sound a bit hollow.

They were under no pressure to do it and they can choose to refuse now. They're not physically addicted. There will be pain for refusing, but that's brought by their own choices. They have a way out.

So if they do not choose to leave the military you don?t feel bad for them when they are suffering?

Well I'm not going to be pleased with doctors getting free pirated movies either so, guess that's pretty irrelevant. But no, some more risk of being sick does something good. Joining the military now? Not really. Bad. Life. Choice.

Instead of pirated movies, maybe safe but unlicensed stuffed animals for children dying in a cancer unit? If they went with the licensed ones 10 kids would get them, unlicensed 1000 kids would get them, it?s a little off but I?m trying to relate it to the DVDs. Also could you elaborate on how much the military is needed right now? ?Not really? is a vague answer.

No, I wouldn't say that. Was it so hard to ask before implying BS like that?

Guess I find it hard to believe you see the need for a military when you say it?s a bad choice to join, and instead of feeling bad for their suffering feel they should leave the military.

 

[NiPah]

Because he wants to be a criminal hero, deluding himself into believing that doing the wrong thing for the right reason is the right thing to do.

I'll ask you too, why do you feel this was morally wrong?

On, the reverse, I could ask you why you DON'T feel it was morally wrong. Because all the justifications I ever hear boil down to "fuck the police/big corporations" and "Copyright laws are bullshit."

Hell, HE HIMSELF admitted that it wasn't the right thing to do.

I don't feel it was morally wrong because he gave a lot of soldiers a small bit of pleasure with relatively low negative impact on the people he was wronging (the movie industry). I base most of my morals on a case by case basis and see little reason for absolutism, yes in almost every case I believe copyright infringement is immoral, but based on my world views this isn't one of them.

Also what punishment do you feel he deserves, per the US legal system he will spend the rest of his life in prison and all of his assets will be handed over to the copyright holders.

Well, he's 92, so "the rest of his life" is actually a relatively short sentence. And it's not like he wasn't aware of the consequences.

[/quote]
I didn't get an answer there, do you believe this man should spend the rest of his life in jail and have all his assets moved over to the movie copyright holders for his crimes or not?

 

[bipolarpatient93]

just because you sign upto do something doesn't mean you shouldn't be allowed these kind of things. civvies tend to be the first ones to complain when soldiers snap overseas, but the reason they snap is because they have no way of setting off steam.
OT: what this guy did was wrong but lets face if more people sent them care packages and movie companies sent a couple of movies to each base he wouldn't have needed to do it in the first place.