Please take care. The above post is sailing 'close to the wind'
I did not close this thread in case there were matters arising which the OP may wish to raise... or other ways in which they could be assisted.
To forum members in general:
On the issue of 'piracy': There are cases where 'illegitimate copying' can be argued to be morally justifiable and cases where it clearly cannot... However, the argument is irrelevant, as the forum has a clear policy about this issue in order to protect itself, and it is set out in the rules which all members have agreed to.
Let me take the opportunity to display it here as a refresher:
Piracy
The AVForums does not condone or promote piracy of any kind. This specifically includes piracy of
* video material (copying DVDs or HDTV encoded movies via the internet)
* music via filesharing MP3/WMA and other digital music not specifically permitted for download in this way
* games and other applications leaked, downloaded or copied
Why do we take this position? Because doing the above is theft. It's illegal.
Whether or not you agree with file sharing and whether or not you agree with the ways the big corporations try to combat this 'problem', you may not post anything on these forums which can be interpreted by our moderators as directly promoting piracy.
To give some examples:
* You absolutely may not advertise pirated software, movies or music for sale on these forums.
* You may not direct people how to download pirated material.
* You may not advise people what hardware/software to use to copy material which is copyright protected.
I have asked moderators to remove any such posts from the AVForums.
There are some grey areas. Can people talk about equipment which amongst other functions, can be used to copy copyrighted material? The answer depends on the context of the discussion.
Specifically with regard to certain interconnects which remove macrovision and are perfectly legal to buy and use provided their use does not infringe copyright. If the discussion focuses on their use to circumvent Macrovision specifically to enable copying then the discussion is not appropriate. If the discussion focuses on their use to circumvent Macrovision to solve a display problem caused by Macrovision on certain display devices then the discussion is ok.
What has prompted this clarification of the piracy rules at the AVForums?
* The increased amount of discussion relating to obtaining unofficial releases of games. One of the developers of Halo privately thanked us for removing discussions of the leaked version. The people discussing the game also left several spoilers which other people did not appreciate.
* The increased availablility of High Definition movie downloads has led to an increase in discussions in the HDTV forum about downloading this material. Perhaps if the studios released more Hi-Def material then people wouldn't be so inclinded to download it. But that's irrelevant. We lost a forum sponsor because a major studio who they deal with objected to the discussions of HDTV piracy here and forced them to withdraw their advertising.
* The level of discussion of piracy has risen in general. We have always tried to be 'friends' with everyone including the AV enjoying public, the retailers selling them kit, the manufacturers and distributors providing the kit and the studios, marketing companies and everyone else involved in producing the movies, TV, games and music we enjoy so much.
You may be interested to know that many representatives of studios, big named manufacturers, respected technical boffins, writers and editors visit these forums. They usually don't post because they prefer not to. Or perhaps are desperate to but corporate company policy prevents them. Still, by openly discussing piracy you may well be alerting people to your actions who you might prefer didn't know what you are up to.
In conclusion, for our benefit and your benefit, please do not post anything which promotes piracy. It'll only get deleted by a moderator.