Brazil Considering Legalizing File Sharing 233
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like Brazil may be the country to watch if you're interested in much more consumer-friendly copyright laws (assuming US diplomatic pressure doesn't interfere). As that country goes through a copyright reform process, among the proposals is one that would create fines not just for infringing, but also for hindering fair use and the public domain. Also, there is a big push underway, with widespread support — even from some artists groups — to legalize file sharing in exchange for a small levy (~$1.74/month) on your broadband connection. Of course, one reason why Brazil may be doing it this way is because of the massive success the Brazilian musical genre technobrega has had by embracing file sharing as a way to promote new works, and making money (often lots of it) through other avenues, like live shows."
Re:Who would have thought (Score:4, Informative)
Well the Beatles and Rolling Stones made hundreds of millions more than the Grateful Dead by not making their music free.
Re:No more HollyWood films in ... (Score:1, Informative)
The US exports and produces very little, almost everything is manufactured in Asia or some developing country with cheap labour. The only thing they have is lots and lots of money, and IP lots of it. That's why they will intervene, not because of moral or legal reasons.
Re:File sharing is already legal (Score:5, Informative)
The distinction is both important and meaningless. File sharing itself is not illegal, but the term is usually applied to what the protocols are used for: copyright infringement. It's a much less loaded term than "piracy" when used in a formal sense.
Re:No more HollyWood films in ... (Score:4, Informative)
The US exports and produces very little, almost everything is manufactured in Asia or some developing country with cheap labour. The only thing they have is lots and lots of money, and IP lots of it. That's why they will intervene, not because of moral or legal reasons.
really? The data does not support that conclusion:
http://www.importexportbook.com/what-does-the-usa-import-and-export/ [importexportbook.com]
Re:No more HollyWood films in ... (Score:4, Informative)
Interesting numbers but aren't they a bit useless if you don't either compare them to imports or to the exports of another country?
I mean, 7 cubic foot per litre is all nice and well but without context it's pretty damn unhelpful/useless.
I wouldn't call the 3rd largest exporter 'very little'. Plus it's only 200M behind the leader.
1 People's Republic of China $1,204,000,000,000 2009 est.
2 Germany $1,159,000,000,000 2009 est.
3 United States $1,046,000,000,000 2009 est.
4 Japan $542,300,000,000 2009 est.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports [wikipedia.org]
Re:No more HollyWood films in ... (Score:5, Informative)
Unless they fix their wealth distribution don't expect too much. I would love to see them do well, but when a couple people ride around in helicoptors and children starve in favelas, it leads to crime, corruption and many of the other problems that plague latin America.
The USA will do anything it can to make sure Brazil is safe for US corporations, knocking off a legally elected politician is only the tip of that iceberg.
Re:Mmm, (Score:1, Informative)
LOL, don't let it worry you, it just confirms what we know about moderators here. :-)
Re:No more HollyWood films in ... (Score:2, Informative)
Ok Mr PopeRatzo.I'm a brazilian, and I live in Brazil. This contry is a complete mess and a huge pile of crap. I've spent a fair amount of time in the US in the past decade. So, I was wondering: Since you think that this stupid hellhole of a country is so great and filled with so many opportunities, let's make a deal. I will trade my brazilian citizenship for your american citizenship. You move here, I move there. You can even have my job, wich is a very good one for brazilian standards. Deal?
Put your money where your mouth is, or else stop spreading nonsense as saying that this CRAP of a country is any good. I hate this hellhole, and have been trying to go to the US legally for about 4 years. You guys have NO idea how good and plantyful your lives are.
Actually, is not true to say that Brazil is 100% useless because is great for sexual tourism (the hookers are plenty and beautiful) but that's it.
The truth about copyright (Score:5, Informative)
Was copyright invented by writers and artists, to protect themselves?
No. Actually, it was invented by publishers, to preserve an information ownership monopoly based on a government censorship policy.
Do musicians, writers, and artists depend on copyright to earn a living?
The vast majority of musicians, writers, and artists will never see a dime of copyright royalties in their lives.
Is copying a copyrighted work the same as stealing it?
If I steal your bicycle, now you have no bicycle. If I copy your song, now we both have it.
Would creativity dry up without copyright?
If there had been no worthwhile or enduring artistic work produced before copyright, this would be a more plausible argument. But the world before modern copyright was hardly a barren cultural desert: Homer, Chaucer, Shakespeare, J.S. Bach, Li Bo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo...
Inform yourself on http://questioncopyright.org/faq [questioncopyright.org], as a bonus you can download a free movie Sita Sings the Blues [questioncopyright.org]
Re:No more HollyWood films in ... (Score:3, Informative)
Spoken like someone who seriously has no clue whatsoever about anything related to life outside of the states. Bravo.
I'm an American citizen who has been living in Brazil for nearly 14 years now. I've been lucky enough to witness the country rise economically from the ashes of a dictatorship and prosper during a time of world recession. Brazil isn't without its share of problems just like any other country on the planet, but over the last decade has proved itself a world power and economically stable environment ripe for investment opportunities and growth. The social divisions are still quite stark but there's finally an emerging middle-class to slowly balance things out. Inflation is under control and the economy is very strong. Brazil is a self-sufficient giant poised to make great strides in the coming years.
This attitude of "The USA will do anything it can to make sure BLAH BLAH BLAH" is exactly what got you owned in 2001, and then again in 2008 when your economy collapsed due in large part to greed and gross financial misconduct. This idea that you can walk into any country on the planet and enforce your will and ideals on a population is laughable at this point. Nobody wants a United States of America World Police Order. Your policies back home do not apply abroad son. The one which you stated about knocking off politicians is clearly a sick joke because we all know how well that worked with Hugo Chavez. Any other bright ideas? How about instead of posting your baseless tripe on forums you instead get a clue and focus your attention more on your own homeland instead of spreading this obviously poorly educated crap around the internet. You are making yourself look like a childish fool, meanwhile your unemployment rate is skyrocketing, your housing industry is in a state of free-fall, and your government is so obsessed with in-fighting that over the next couple of years nothing other than bickering will get done while the population suffers. My suggestion to Americans in general is to focus on your own problems first before you attempt to enforce your will on another unwilling population. The harder you push the more they'll resist. In a country where drug offenders end up doing more time than murderers, child molesters and rapists, there's clearly something very wrong. How is the American system of social class any different than that of Brazil? Your billionaire CEO class has absolutely no clue nor care in the world about the lower middle-class blue collar worker. It's the poor who grease the wheels of the machine as the rich get richer.
My wife has been studying law for the last 13 years since we've been living here. She's told me repeatedly any time this subject of "internet law" comes up that there are actually laws on the books, but there's no implementation because there's no way to enforce them. Things like bandwidth caps and isp monitoring are considered unconstitutional and rarely used outside of investigating a corrupt politician. Passing a law does not mean it will be enforced and rarely is.
One of my favorite things about living in this country is that there are certain freedoms that Americans could only dream of. Ever been pulled over for a traffic violation? 5 mph over the speed limit? Maybe a rolling stop at an intersection where nobody is around? That crap doesn't exist here. There aren't any traffic cops. They do use a system of radars in some areas to control the speed, other than that they are non-existent. Once in a while they'll run what's called a "blitz" where they'll close off 3 of the 4 lanes of traffic to check paperwork related to valid licenses, insurance, and paid taxes on the car, but it's rare. Mostly they are interested in fighting the drug dealers and surviving on the streets from day to day. They don't get paid enough to give a crap about whether or not you are obeying the traffic laws. The best part is that they aren't needed. It isn't a lawless wasteland where everyone is driving around like Carmageddon. It's an honor
Re: Levy (Score:3, Informative)
Hi... you notice a theme here... the items you listed are provided by the government for the common good. Royalties to an artist don't meet those criteria.
Thanks for playing.
Re:Nobody? (Score:3, Informative)
Because it is sooooooo easy to game that system. We'd finally have a good economic incentive for botnets.