Main principle: If people keep their stuff to themselves in their basements, it's their business. If they go to town square, climb atop a soap box and start loudly yelling, for everyone to hear (i.e. "publishing") it becomes public. Everyone is entitled to everything that is public (exceptions are e.g. South Africa under Apartheid, etc).

Special case: some people's loud yelling is deemed to be of benefit. Applying capitalist principles (others would be e.g. artistic), there needs to be a monetary reward for this to happen. This is achieved by enforcing an artificial monopoly on further publishing/making public that which is already public, but "for a limited time". The argument is about what "a limited time" should be in order to reap which level of the benefits while not indefinitely artificially impeding the public access to that which has been published/made public.

It's better to reinstate the mandatory Copyright (c) YYYY marki have automatic copyright for 10 years, then in the 10th year (not before) allow for an extension of another 10 years application by (1) registering the work with the new Copyright Registry and Escrow Agency, (2) submitting a fully function copy, unencumbered with DRM, watermarks (audio and/or visual and/or otherwise), etc. and (3) paying a fee which will serve as the Intellectual Property Tax for the work, to pay for the system, and any extras will go toward cultural subsidies/programs etc. This will have to be tweaked a bit for situations where there are updates/changes (most commonly with software). A newer/changed/improved work can never "reset the clock" of a previously submitted work.

Please all note that this mechanism will also allow for copyright term reductions to be applied retro-actively and without compensation to rightsholders!

Not just that. All copies of works you have purchased, with the knowledge and understanding each and every one of those will enter the public domain on a specific date, suddenly become less valuable or even zero if that date is retroactively extended, perhaps to beyond your own lifetime. Members of the public have never been compensated for this loss of wealth.

All is not lost; by the same reasoning copyright terms can (1) also be retroactively reduced and (2) without compensation to rightsholders.

Torrent? Probably we'll be too busy downloading the new GOP dumps (unless the "we'll allow you to release it" pastebin was genuine).

In Soviet Russia, old jokes expire YOU!

Bad example. Better would be how a beta version of Windows 3.1 was blocked from running on top of DR-DOS (AARD). And yes, from a consumers' point of view that is shady, and if it isn't it should be illegal. It's not about the "rights" that Real has, it's about the "rights" the owner of the iPod has, no matter what is in Apple's small print.

Oh! Oh, I'm sorry. This is the argument clinic. Complaints is next door, room 12B.

Can somebody please explain why BigPharma creates a medication X (consisting of components A B and C) and patents it, then halfway through its life creates X+ (consisting of A B and D) and patents it again, this affects the patent for medication X? I should be able to create a generic for X using the old formula (A B and C) when the patent for X expires, regardless of any patents for X+, or Y.

"No, you wouldn't."

Yes, but things change over time. Sometimes for the better (e.g. TPBs infrastructure changes), sometimes for the worse (e.g. TPB taking down content that had nothing to do with child pornography. terrorism, etc.)

TPB was (and may again be?) the Light Tower of Ecthelion, a symbol of hope, against the Big Labels (RIAA) and Big Studios (MPAA) constant warfare (domain seizures, raids, DNS/IP blocks, proxy blocks, etc. IF you can reach TPB and perform a search, rejoice! Your Internet is not dead yet!

This is where Brokep went wrong. It's not the functionality of TPB which makes it great (since it sucks) or who is running it and what's in it for them, it's the fact that it. is. still. there. Unchanged, unwavering, undefeated. After all that happened, after all the perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide thrown against it, it is still there. Well, now it's not. The Copyright Cartels are popping the corks early. And that is why it's sad. Not because I can't search for some RIAA or MPAA member's faeces there.

I would, but I forgot where I reddit.

And here's yet another example where traditional Copyright Industry territory is being invaded! That's right! The revolving door was between RIAA/MPAA (members) and the Government. And now those telco boys are butting in there too? It's a scandal and something should be done to restore the Old Way Of Things!

Heh, nobody can stand against the mighty #GOP... except #TJR The Justice Riders! (Where "a pro-Union posse of diverse multinationals" is particulary apt.)

Sony hired FireEye (where In-Q-Tel is a major investor) which since Dec 2013 owns Mandiant. The latter and it's operations features prominently in the HBGary emails from a couple of years ago. I wouldn't put it past any of them to carry out a false flag operation, at the expense of the Sony employees (compare to the "hit me, hit me hard" to lamely cover up letting a prisoner escape) to try and draw out the GOP.

GOP is also doing nobody a favour, if they did, by releasing a couple of pre-release movies. That makes Sony the legitimate victim. Releasing documents, on the other hand, that show dirty backstabbing, expose lies, and otherwise shed some light at the secretive goings-on of a major Copyright MAFIAA member makes Sony the perp.

Don't forget, the keyword of the 2010s is Victimship. The art of making yourself look like the victim. It's not really new, as burglars that were caught in the act and became good acquintances with the homeowner's baseball bat always did this.