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Judges Liken P2P To The Ancient Practice of Lending Books

BantaBanta
edited June 2010 in News
After raids in 2005, Spanish police arrested four people and dismantled a popular file-sharing site. The case has been dragging on ever since but now has finally been closed. Three judges decided that no offense had been committed and likened file-sharing to the ancient practice of sharing books.

Following an investigation by the authorities and audiovisual rights collecting society EGEDA and Columbia Tristar, in early 2005 Spanish police embarked on an operation aimed at shutting down popular file-sharing forum CVCDGO.com.

EGEDA complained that site allowed members to download movies located on P2P networks, sometimes which had yet to have a theatrical release. Like many file-sharing sites, CVCDGO had been financed by advertising since its 2004 launch and in its short life it allegedly received more than 11 million visits.

Conducted by the country’s Intellectual Property Crime Squad, ‘Operation CVCD’ culminated later in 2005 in raids on locations in Malaga, Seville and Madrid. There police arrested the four male operators of the site who at the time were aged between 27 and 37 years old. The servers, meanwhile, remained located in San Diego in the United States,

The legal proceedings have dragged on ever since, but now the Provincial Court of Madrid has finally closed the case, finding that no offenses had been committed.

In common with every other file-sharing case coming out of the Spanish legal system recently, the Court found that since the site did not host the actual copyright files and generated no profit directly from any infringements of copyright, the presence of advertising on the site did not constitute a crime.

In their ruling, judges Ocariz, Gutierrez and Campillo said that “..since ancient times there has been the loan or sale of books, movies, music and more. The difference now is mainly on the medium used – previously it was paper or analog media and now everything is in a digital format which allows a much faster exchange of a higher quality and also with global reach through the Internet.”

The judges noted that all this takes places between many users all at once without any of them receiving any financial reward.

Lawyer Carlos Sanchez Almeida, whose law firm defended the case, said that the decision meant that the judges were sending a clear message to the government, informing Culture Minister González Sinde that there is a “red line that should not be crossed.”

“The judges have taken a stand for freedom on the Internet,” he added.

The decision cannot be appealed.
Nifty.
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Comments

  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Too bad our Judges will never join the current century.
  • AprecheApreche
    Spain it is.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    This has lead the Spanish copyright lobby to push for major reform.
    Given that this is the internet, we could just secure one country against copyright abuse and then have all the servers move there.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Or we could just all move there and say fuck off to the rest of the world.
  • NerdcoreWannabeNerdcoreWannabe
    Ideally beautiful, but we all know there is no stopping the path of convergence this world is taking. Unless something from a fantasy (or sci-fi) pops up with a jarring enough entrance, there is just no real reason not to converge as a whole. In the end, you can either try to direct how the end product will be, try to hide out from it until you pass, join the mass, or be deathly afraid of it.

    Then again, Spain has nice beaches, right?
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    Or we could just all move there and say fuck off to the rest of the world.
    Lets all move to Geekistan! It can still happen if we pool our resources and buy some land off Greece (I hear they are pretty needy right now, so we can get it cheap).
  • DromaroDromaro
    That place already exists in fiction. Behold, GEEKISTAN!
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    As a citizen of Spain and the US, I feel obligated to champion my nation's greatness:

    - P2P is a-ok
    - Beautiful ruins, beaches, and castles
    - Legal gay marriage, pro-choice, extremely progressive
    - El Día Nacional de Los Frikis, or literally "National Geek Day," which is widely recognized
    - The cost of living is plummeting
    - Great food, fine wine, amazing nightlife
    - Incredible hospitality
    - Bullet train access to the entire Eurozone, massive internal train network
    - FEF and Real Madrid
    - Also, Madrid

    Spain is incredible. A veritable geek stronghold in a neoluddite world.
  • ......
    champion my nation's greatness:
    Spain sucks. Your argument is invalid.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    As a citizen of Spain and the US, I feel obligated to champion my nation's greatness:

    - P2P is a-ok
    - Beautiful ruins, beaches, and castles
    - Legal gay marriage, pro-choice, extremely progressive
    - El Día Nacional de Los Frikis, or literally "National Geek Day," which is widely recognized
    - The cost of living is plummeting
    - Great food, fine wine, amazing nightlife
    - Incredible hospitality
    - Bullet train access to the entire Eurozone, massive internal train network
    - FEF and Real Madrid
    - Also, Madrid

    Spain is incredible. A veritable geek stronghold in a neoluddite world.
    Not to mention a wonderful history filled with art and culture.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    champion my nation's greatness:
    Spain sucks. Your argument is invalid.
    His counter point is most compelling.
  • AprecheApreche
    edited June 2010
    This thread moved Spain way up to the top of the "places to escape to" list. How fast is the Internets there? How about things like video game availability and that sort of thing? Is there a Newegg of Spain?
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    How about jobs? Spain is notorious poor in the EU, only a step above Greece.
  • RymRym
    How about jobs? Spain is notorious poor in the EU, only a step above Greece.
    Telecommuting to the US. ^_~
  • WalkerWalker
    edited June 2010
    Spain is notorious poor in the EU, only a step above Greece.
    That's because all of the friendly, fútbol playing liberal gay software-pirate foodie hippies are too lazy to work.
    Post edited by Walker on
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited June 2010
    How about jobs? Spain is notorious poor in the EU, only a step above Greece.
    Telecommuting to the US. ^_~
    Basically this. I'm planning to live there for a while and do nighthawk radiology readings. Ninth or tenth biggest economy, but they'll be in a recession a bit longer.
    How fast is the Internets there?
    There's FiOS in Madrid and Barcelona, if I recall correctly. Otherwise, just like the US.
    How about things like video game availability and that sort of thing?
    My cousins report that stuff comes out at around 60 euro at the usual EU release date. For the PC, you can always create foreign Steam accounts--Same thing for XBLA and PSN.
    Is there a Newegg of Spain?
    I really don't know. I know cheap tech is available, but I don't think Newegg does international stuff yet. You could always use a package forwarding service, which usually sneaks under customs, as I understand it.
    Spain is notorious poor in the EU, only a step above Greece.
    That's because all of the friendly, fútbol playing liberal gay software-pirate foodie hippies are too lazy to work.
    Actually, more like the credit crunch fucked the economy and drove unemployment to 18%. But you know, whatever.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    It's obviously a trick ruling that will lead to things no one expects.
    image
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Actually, more like the credit crunch fucked the economy and drove unemployment to 18%. But you know, whatever.
    18% is pretty retarded high. I maintain that Spain has it's problems, much like the US. I could deal I think, and finally get that Renault Twingo 133 I've been wanting.
  • ......
    How fast is the Internets there?
    Mediocre compared to the rest of Europe. Still better than the USA.
    How about things like video game availability and that sort of thing?
    Shitty, later, overpriced and €1 != $1.
    Is there a Newegg of Spain?
    Nope. Western Europe is more likely to get 'a' Newegg than southern Europe.

    Seriously, Spain is typically south European. Relatively poor and crap, it only looks nice in some places. Oh, and if you ever get sick or require medical attention... well, I hope you have a credit card and lotsa money for a private hospital because the public health system is very subpar.
    That's because all of the friendly, fútbol playing liberal gay software-pirate foodie hippies are too lazy to work.
    Are you sure you're talking about Spain and not about the Netherlands?
  • RymRym
    Still better than rural USA.
    I have wicked fast FIOS, and most urban centers have multiple quality high speed broadband providers. The US's "broadband problems" are skewed heavily by our large amounts of infrastructure-poor rural and suburban residential areas. Also, I note our lack of bandwidth caps. ^_^
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Also, I note our lack of bandwidth caps. ^_^
    I have a bandwidth cap. They don't enforce it, but it's there.
  • RymRym
    I have a bandwidth cap. They don't enforce it, but it's there.
    Fine. Our lack of bandwidth caps in civilized places. ;^)
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Fine. Our lack of bandwidth caps in civilized places. ;^)
    I think you'd like the DC area plenty if all your friends came with you. ;)
  • RymRym
    I think you'd like the DC area plenty if all your friends came with you. ;)
    Yes, the subways that don't run at night, the horrifying traffic, the lower density, the lack of jobs in my sector. A regular riot. ;^)
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    edited June 2010
    the lower density
    This is the one that gets me, but there's little reason for it. Why is everything so god damn spread out. :P
    Post edited by George Patches on
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited June 2010
    Yeah, as far as Nine goes, you won't see any arguments from me. Healthcare isn't as good as the US, and relatively speaking the poverty gap is massive. There's a reason my grandparents left, and it certainly wasn't all about Franco. Although, I'd argue about the his views on the quality of the scenery, but most geeks would be staying somewhere like Madrid or Barcelona, so it's a moot point.
    Are you sure you're talking about Spain and not about the Netherlands?
    An Amsterdam is fine too.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    An Amsterdam is fine too.
    Plus you can live there without learning Dutch. Even Burger King employees speak English well.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    Yeah, Amsterdam has long been tied with London and Madrid as first choices of EU cities to expatriate to.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    Besides, your bandwidth isn't unlimited either.
  • ChurbaChurba
    edited June 2010
    Fine. Our lack of bandwidth caps in civilized places. ;^)
    It's your "Civilised" places(Okay, corporations within them) that largely cause our bandwidth caps. And if you were in our position, you'd be bitching a lot more than any Aussies on the forum do about it.
    Post edited by Churba on
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