Re: WHO???

[CUTblakeney@home.com (Jeff Blakeney)]

I'm sorry but I'm not a lawyer and I've never been involved in any
sort of legal action so I'm just trying to simplify a really complex
sujbect the best I can.  I'm would guess that you were simplifying as
well.

I stand by my statement that the onus is on the public not to break
laws.  As a member of a society you agree to abide by the laws of that
society.  It is up to you to ensure that you don't break any laws.
The consequences for breaking laws are just incentives to help you to
continue obeying the laws.

Regardless of what the consequences are, copyright violations are
still against the law.  Whether you get charged or not is irrelavent
to whether doing so is illegal or not.  My biggest beef is that the
people running the "pirate" sites won't admit this fact.

I'm fairly certain that copyright law is not always civil.  I believe
it depends on circumstances and where you are.  International
copyright law could be handled differently than local copyright laws
as well.  I can't say for sure.

As to who can pursue legal action in cases of copyright violation, I
have read about at least one group of law enforcement that would do
surprise inspections of businesses and check their computer systems
for illegal copies of software.  If any were found, the company was
charged and/or fined.  I don't recall hearing anything about them
having to get the copyright holder involved.  I've even worked at
companies that were quite concerned about this.

Besides, no one should have to pursue any copyright infringement
because there should never be any.

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