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

[Thyunda]

snip

Now you have GOT to be doing this deliberately. Why SHOULDN'T soldiers have that privilege? They could be dead the next day, they've more a right to luxuries than we easy-living civilians have! But hey, maybe we should just...let people live out their days in misery just because they're not in the right place to enjoy what we have.

Also. That man. He is the old man from Up.

That was an odd post to quote since it was just me replying to someone who had nothing substantive to say at that point.

Anyway, they shouldn't have the privilege since no one should have the privilege of being above the law. Or having their benefactors be above the law as would be the most accurate description in this case. I'm not about slavish adherence to the law for the law's sake or anything, but unless there's a flaw with the law itself that is relevant to this I do not think that anyone should be put above the law here. Especially not for service to the government, that corrupts the whole thing.

And no, they have no more right to luxuries than anyone else for their choice. Was it part of their deal when signing up? No? Then they cannot expect it.

And I don't mind letting people live out their days in misery because they chose to do so. To expect more after they made said choice would be quite entitled.

They didn't expect more. It was a nice thing for a veteran to do - he'd been through it and he knew what would have made it easier for him, so he offered to make it easier for them. And they appreciated it. While yes, we do need to...SHOW that he has been punished, I really don't think he actually deserves punishment. There's just...nothing to punish.

He offered with things that were not his own. That was wrong of him and I'll maintain that position unless someone shows me why he'd deserve to be above the law here.

As for punishment, I don't particularly care if he's punished of not, he's kind of old for it. At worst something to stop him from reoffending should be done.

If he received any gain from this, I'd be on your side. But he really didn't. Benevolent piracy, eh? I'd make an exception. He took no credit, he didn't become a name, they were just mystery packages appearing.
And as for reoffending...bah. If he doesn't reoffend in the next five years I don't think we have anything to worry about.

But why should his lack of gain matter? So piracy is now okay if we start gifting to random people we don't know instead of benefiting from it ourselves?

Well yes, but he could easily do so in the next 5 years.

Also I quoted that post because it was the closest one to the bottom. I don't like quoting ones from before.

It makes it unclear what particular things you were taking issue with was all.

I cut the text out for that reason. I just wanted you to know your best friend wanted a friendly hug.

Ah okay -__-

And yeah kinda. I mean, stealing food to give to the homeless. Robbing the rich to feed the poor. It's all well and good when we're talking about rebels in far off countries or Robin Hood in far-off times, but soon as it happens around us, we all close up and declare them criminals. More people should be so community spirited.

Robin Hood took from the unjust to the people they were victimizing. I'm not seeing how the MPAA is responsible for the state of Afghanistan and the soldiers' lives over there.

And note, feeding the poor is giving them something they need to survive.

This guy is handing out free entertainment, breaking laws in a manner that acts against people who didn't do anything wrong to the soldiers in Afghanistan.

Entertainment is as important as anything else. Otherwise your mind gets all dead.

We've survived for a pretty long time without this particular entertainment, so no excuse there really.

I do apologise for that last post, apparently my brain decided 'gets all dead' was a technical term.
But really, why deny them that entertainment? There's no real reason for it. They can't exactly come back here, pay for the DVDs legitimately and then watch them there. Happy soldiers are effective soldiers. Really the MPAA should be glad of the service done for their country.

I understood it well enough, no need for an apology there.

You have it backwards though. Since when is it denying someone to not give them free junk? No, the question isn't why deny it to them because it isn't being denied to them. The question is why should they get it for free. Sure they can't come back and pay for it, but piracy doesn't fix that problem in this case. This guy, who could buy them, chose not to.

And no, they really shouldn't be glad of service done for the country.

Well maybe the corporations should show a bit more support. Is it not their investments that are being protected? Let's be honest, Iraq and Afghanistan were hardly about to invade the US. The whole affair is a corporate/political gambit, and it should be the corporations that make these gestures of goodwill.

 

[Thyunda]

snip

Now you have GOT to be doing this deliberately. Why SHOULDN'T soldiers have that privilege? They could be dead the next day, they've more a right to luxuries than we easy-living civilians have! But hey, maybe we should just...let people live out their days in misery just because they're not in the right place to enjoy what we have.

Also. That man. He is the old man from Up.

That was an odd post to quote since it was just me replying to someone who had nothing substantive to say at that point.

Anyway, they shouldn't have the privilege since no one should have the privilege of being above the law. Or having their benefactors be above the law as would be the most accurate description in this case. I'm not about slavish adherence to the law for the law's sake or anything, but unless there's a flaw with the law itself that is relevant to this I do not think that anyone should be put above the law here. Especially not for service to the government, that corrupts the whole thing.

And no, they have no more right to luxuries than anyone else for their choice. Was it part of their deal when signing up? No? Then they cannot expect it.

And I don't mind letting people live out their days in misery because they chose to do so. To expect more after they made said choice would be quite entitled.

They didn't expect more. It was a nice thing for a veteran to do - he'd been through it and he knew what would have made it easier for him, so he offered to make it easier for them. And they appreciated it. While yes, we do need to...SHOW that he has been punished, I really don't think he actually deserves punishment. There's just...nothing to punish.

He offered with things that were not his own. That was wrong of him and I'll maintain that position unless someone shows me why he'd deserve to be above the law here.

As for punishment, I don't particularly care if he's punished of not, he's kind of old for it. At worst something to stop him from reoffending should be done.

If he received any gain from this, I'd be on your side. But he really didn't. Benevolent piracy, eh? I'd make an exception. He took no credit, he didn't become a name, they were just mystery packages appearing.
And as for reoffending...bah. If he doesn't reoffend in the next five years I don't think we have anything to worry about.

But why should his lack of gain matter? So piracy is now okay if we start gifting to random people we don't know instead of benefiting from it ourselves?

Well yes, but he could easily do so in the next 5 years.

Also I quoted that post because it was the closest one to the bottom. I don't like quoting ones from before.

It makes it unclear what particular things you were taking issue with was all.

I cut the text out for that reason. I just wanted you to know your best friend wanted a friendly hug.

Ah okay -__-

And yeah kinda. I mean, stealing food to give to the homeless. Robbing the rich to feed the poor. It's all well and good when we're talking about rebels in far off countries or Robin Hood in far-off times, but soon as it happens around us, we all close up and declare them criminals. More people should be so community spirited.

Robin Hood took from the unjust to the people they were victimizing. I'm not seeing how the MPAA is responsible for the state of Afghanistan and the soldiers' lives over there.

And note, feeding the poor is giving them something they need to survive.

This guy is handing out free entertainment, breaking laws in a manner that acts against people who didn't do anything wrong to the soldiers in Afghanistan.

Entertainment is as important as anything else. Otherwise your mind gets all dead.

We've survived for a pretty long time without this particular entertainment, so no excuse there really.

I do apologise for that last post, apparently my brain decided 'gets all dead' was a technical term.
But really, why deny them that entertainment? There's no real reason for it. They can't exactly come back here, pay for the DVDs legitimately and then watch them there. Happy soldiers are effective soldiers. Really the MPAA should be glad of the service done for their country.

I understood it well enough, no need for an apology there.

You have it backwards though. Since when is it denying someone to not give them free junk? No, the question isn't why deny it to them because it isn't being denied to them. The question is why should they get it for free. Sure they can't come back and pay for it, but piracy doesn't fix that problem in this case. This guy, who could buy them, chose not to.

And no, they really shouldn't be glad of service done for the country.

Well maybe the corporations should show a bit more support. Is it not their investments that are being protected? Let's be honest, Iraq and Afghanistan were hardly about to invade the US. The whole affair is a corporate/political gambit, and it should be the corporations that make these gestures of goodwill.

I don't really see what the MPAA has to do with any of that. I do not see how their investments are being protected, nor do I see how they were involved in sending people over there. Maybe you can blame certain corporations, but I do not see how movies had anything to do with it.

WELL IF ANARCHISTS CAN GENERALISE THE RICH AS ONE AXIS OF EVIL SO CAN I!

 

[Thyunda]

snip

Now you have GOT to be doing this deliberately. Why SHOULDN'T soldiers have that privilege? They could be dead the next day, they've more a right to luxuries than we easy-living civilians have! But hey, maybe we should just...let people live out their days in misery just because they're not in the right place to enjoy what we have.

Also. That man. He is the old man from Up.

That was an odd post to quote since it was just me replying to someone who had nothing substantive to say at that point.

Anyway, they shouldn't have the privilege since no one should have the privilege of being above the law. Or having their benefactors be above the law as would be the most accurate description in this case. I'm not about slavish adherence to the law for the law's sake or anything, but unless there's a flaw with the law itself that is relevant to this I do not think that anyone should be put above the law here. Especially not for service to the government, that corrupts the whole thing.

And no, they have no more right to luxuries than anyone else for their choice. Was it part of their deal when signing up? No? Then they cannot expect it.

And I don't mind letting people live out their days in misery because they chose to do so. To expect more after they made said choice would be quite entitled.

They didn't expect more. It was a nice thing for a veteran to do - he'd been through it and he knew what would have made it easier for him, so he offered to make it easier for them. And they appreciated it. While yes, we do need to...SHOW that he has been punished, I really don't think he actually deserves punishment. There's just...nothing to punish.

He offered with things that were not his own. That was wrong of him and I'll maintain that position unless someone shows me why he'd deserve to be above the law here.

As for punishment, I don't particularly care if he's punished of not, he's kind of old for it. At worst something to stop him from reoffending should be done.

If he received any gain from this, I'd be on your side. But he really didn't. Benevolent piracy, eh? I'd make an exception. He took no credit, he didn't become a name, they were just mystery packages appearing.
And as for reoffending...bah. If he doesn't reoffend in the next five years I don't think we have anything to worry about.

But why should his lack of gain matter? So piracy is now okay if we start gifting to random people we don't know instead of benefiting from it ourselves?

Well yes, but he could easily do so in the next 5 years.

Also I quoted that post because it was the closest one to the bottom. I don't like quoting ones from before.

It makes it unclear what particular things you were taking issue with was all.

I cut the text out for that reason. I just wanted you to know your best friend wanted a friendly hug.

Ah okay -__-

And yeah kinda. I mean, stealing food to give to the homeless. Robbing the rich to feed the poor. It's all well and good when we're talking about rebels in far off countries or Robin Hood in far-off times, but soon as it happens around us, we all close up and declare them criminals. More people should be so community spirited.

Robin Hood took from the unjust to the people they were victimizing. I'm not seeing how the MPAA is responsible for the state of Afghanistan and the soldiers' lives over there.

And note, feeding the poor is giving them something they need to survive.

This guy is handing out free entertainment, breaking laws in a manner that acts against people who didn't do anything wrong to the soldiers in Afghanistan.

Entertainment is as important as anything else. Otherwise your mind gets all dead.

We've survived for a pretty long time without this particular entertainment, so no excuse there really.

I do apologise for that last post, apparently my brain decided 'gets all dead' was a technical term.
But really, why deny them that entertainment? There's no real reason for it. They can't exactly come back here, pay for the DVDs legitimately and then watch them there. Happy soldiers are effective soldiers. Really the MPAA should be glad of the service done for their country.

I understood it well enough, no need for an apology there.

You have it backwards though. Since when is it denying someone to not give them free junk? No, the question isn't why deny it to them because it isn't being denied to them. The question is why should they get it for free. Sure they can't come back and pay for it, but piracy doesn't fix that problem in this case. This guy, who could buy them, chose not to.

And no, they really shouldn't be glad of service done for the country.

Well maybe the corporations should show a bit more support. Is it not their investments that are being protected? Let's be honest, Iraq and Afghanistan were hardly about to invade the US. The whole affair is a corporate/political gambit, and it should be the corporations that make these gestures of goodwill.

I don't really see what the MPAA has to do with any of that. I do not see how their investments are being protected, nor do I see how they were involved in sending people over there. Maybe you can blame certain corporations, but I do not see how movies had anything to do with it.

WELL IF ANARCHISTS CAN GENERALISE THE RICH AS ONE AXIS OF EVIL SO CAN I!

If you did that then I'd need to generalize all the people who generalize the rich as one axis of evil, including you, as anarchists. You're not anarchist, now are you?

Touché. I am in fact conservative. But this is because I lost sight of my original focus. It happens a lot. Tomorrow I will have some devilishly clever to say and I'll destroy your argument and make you feel bad as a person. Honest. It's just now, I can't remember why I'm right.

 

[dyre]

huh, can't the soldiers buy dirt-cheap pirated DVDs in Afghanistan anyway? Or is that just Iraq?

OT, piracy is still illegal, as the WWII vet himself acknowledges, but it probably couldn't hurt for the MPAA to look the other way. Or just send some copies over there themselves.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Robin Hood took from the unjust to the people they were victimizing. I'm not seeing how the MPAA is responsible for the state of Afghanistan and the soldiers' lives over there.

And note, feeding the poor is giving them something they need to survive.

This guy is handing out free entertainment, breaking laws in a manner that acts against people who didn't do anything wrong to the soldiers in Afghanistan.

One could argue that the MPAA(along with the RIAA and a few other organizations)has stolen our culture from us all, using lobbying to push unnecessary extensions to copyright law to do so. Give Free Culture a read to get one such evaluation(available for free [http://www.jus.uio.no/sisu/free_culture.lawrence_lessig/sisu_manifest.html] on the internet thanks to it being published under CopyLeft). It still doesn't excuse this particular act, since I doubt the man in question sent copies of The Seven Samurai or some old Errol Flynn movies. Still, it's worth noting that Big Media has been manipulating congress and the courts for years generations, so the Robin Hood analogy isn't entirely without merit.

 

[RagTagBand]

MAN this forum just can't keep a straight story - thread after thread i've seen people denouncing pirates of computer games, calling them scum, blaming them for DRM, for "Constant Internet connection required" practices, how they're killing PC gaming

But then all of a sudden some guy drops a serious amount of cash (Which, btw, could have easily bought him a shit ton of legitimate DVD's) in a highly organized effort to be a pirate and suddenly he's a fucking hero? OH is it because He used to be a soldier that makes his actions not just forgivable, but honorable? Or is it because he sends his counterfeit DVD's TO soldiers that grants him a place above the law? It's funny how Soldiers are placed above and beyond all else for the most arbitrary, pathetic and often contradictory, reasons.

Fuck him and fuck your double Standards, Escapist users.

 

[RN7]

They probably should arrest him for breaking the law or at least fine him since he's so damned old, but this man deserves some kind of props, not because he was bringing joy to some soldiers, but because he managed to bootleg 300k DVDs and distribute them before getting caught.

 

[Sansha]

I like this guy, if I practiced law in his area and he got in trouble I'd represent him for free (or for a few dvd's perhaps).

Actually that would probably get you disbarred, accepting pirated goods for representation. Or maybe not disbarred. But in some trouble. Lawyers having their defendants commit the crime they're defending them from as a form of payment is um... yeah...

Alternatively you could be something other than completely humorless.

As for me, on one hand yes, piracy is bad but there's no malice or intent to profit here. The MPAA would be stupid to prosecute this guy due to publicity, even if they did what're they going to do? Throw a 92 year old WWII veteran in prison where he'll be treated like a hero for the rest of his life? Fine him out of his pension? The most I think they'll do is give him a polite but firm 'don't do it again' - but either way, he won't care what happens. But he should get some kind of warning or some kind of public message that even under the most extraordinary circumstances, piracy is not cool.

I don't look up to or admire soldiers, or think they should be getting special treatment, and they're most certainly not above the law. Look back on my older posts for my views on piracy.
But, and this is a big stinky but, their job entails the idea of getting shot and killed on an almost daily basis, and Afghanistan itself happens to be hostile - hot, arid, unforgiving. They go into that 'job' knowing that, with the ideal that their work and sacrifice will help keep life safe and easy for their people back home.
This isn't a 100% fact for all soldiers' motivations. Some of them get into it for the bonuses, some are simply good at it. They're most certainly not saints, and I don't think they should be over there in the first place.
But I can't help but respect someone who'd happily go into such a horrid place for such a horrid reason for a, as some people so simplistically put it, 'job'. They could use a movie night or two... pity a studio didn't get this idea first; it'd have been excellent PR.

 

[Zetatrain]

either the MPAA lets a pirate go
or they end up suing a 92 WWII vet that supports the troops in his own way
I would love to see how this ends

hey escapists for the sake of discussion what if this was a teenager instead of a WWII vet would you still defend him?

They probably would. Even if he wasn't a WWII vet I still think the same people would defend him since he's doing it for the troops. Though if it were a teenager then he'd might get a little less praise since it does not sound as cool when compared to a 92 year old man doing this kind of thing.

 

[applesandoranges]

edit

 

[revjor]

Whether you support the military or piracy or not, this is a damn good thing. I prefer non violence and non intervention but I know that's a minority position in this country. We have soldiers and I'd rather have the soldiers in warzones as well connected to society as possible. This man helps that happen. It will ease their return home after a long deployment and to their mental state readjusting to home. Whether you agree with military might or not, It exists and we do not need another generation of disconnected lost men wandering around out there like you got post Vietnam. Growin up in the military I saw a lot of parents return home from Desert Storm and Kosovo followed by a HUGE spike in domestic abuse much of which was never reported. This isn't just entertainment/junk. It's a teather to home while bullets and mortars become your life.

Old guy will probably settle out of court, be forced to sell his story to the highest bidding film company, get a massive fine that some famous director who supports the military or wants publicity will pay, maybe a term of community service. I can't imagine they will go that hard on him. He's 92, widowed, fought in WW2 and knew what he was doing when he pirated 300k dvds. What can you gonna do to him that he won't shrug off? *pictures him in a Buick, bouncing to Jay Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" in a full gansta lean, speeding to Old Country Buffet*

 

[OniaPL]

I'm going to be surprised if the man is not punished. That would basically mean that illegal acts are okay as long as you have good intentions.

The laws are the same for everyone; once there is one exception, there will be more and more, and eventually the system will fall apart.

Not that it would be a bad thing.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

It is interesting how suddenly everyone is all for breaking the law, so long as you spin the story just right. Laws are laws for a reason.

 

[darknessviking]

so instead of giving money to sharity he sits around copying movies and sends them to soldiers,who probably never got to see them?
stupid.