Re:Wil Wheaton: Yo Hollywood, Let Me Download Ubuntu
by Semiapies on Tuesday May 15, 2012 @07:13PM
(#3979456)
I get the distinction he's making between civil and criminal liability, as I pointed out in my other comment (I just don't think it's useful to keep asserting). I was pointing out in that comment that he was making an unreasonable claim that someone could expect to go to prison for stealing a CD in Canada.
And unless the UK has draconian shoplifting laws I've never heard of, the same holds true there.
Re:Wil Wheaton: Yo Hollywood, Let Me Download Ubuntu
by DanBC on Tuesday May 15, 2012 @07:30PM
(#3979518)
People get arrested for shoplifting. So they spend at least a couple of hours in police cells while they're getting booked.
People get fined for shoplifting. Sometimes they don't pay the fines. They go to prison for not paying fines.
Re:Wil Wheaton: Yo Hollywood, Let Me Download Ubuntu
by Semiapies on Thursday May 17, 2012 @08:18PM
(#3989771)
It seems you in turn are having difficulty distinguishing "arrest" and "prison". The former involves being put in a jail (or "gaol") for a short period of time, while the latter involves being put in a prison for years on end.
Theft would be a criminal offence. Shop-lifting would be counted as theft.
Violating copyrights is illegal, but it's not a criminal offence. You're not going to be arrested for it. The Crown Prosecution Service won't do anything.
The rights holders can sue for loss of earnings - that's 79pence per track. They can try and sue for the stuff you've shared.
Copyright violation becomes criminal offence if done as part of trade - burning movies to DVD and selling them, for example.