At 92, Bandit to Hollywood but Hero to Soldiers

[cram]

Originally Posted by HEY!YOU!

If you really want to support the troops, don't send them f'ing movies.
Write a check to the VA to help take care of the wounded when they return.

FWIW - I'm one of the engineers of a company contracted by the VA to help staff and provide vets with jobs. The aim is efficiency and ease in getting people help, support and employment as well as employers' benefits for participating in VA programs.

Another thing I hope people understand:

Originally Posted by bluesking89

Know this - when you're fighting a war, even the smallest things can make a significant difference in the morale and welfare of the troops.

I've been sending 'care packages' to family and friends who have been deployed since the mid nineties. The guy I started doing this for still carries a photo of the most god awful porn picture folded up in his wallet - it was a joke item in the box, but it was grotesque enough to make him and the guys in his medic unit laugh their asses off. It's falling to pieces, but he keeps it.

The point - that little thing and all the other little things we sent in those boxes to him and others made the day of many. It's also continued the strong ties among family and friends - this is my reward. That feeling.

DVD's have gone too.. Joke home videos on my domain as well so they can check out people at a bbq or whatever. I once helped my friends wife set up a web cam/skype thing many years ago - even though she may have been able to figure it out herself, I was happy to help.

[cutaway]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

This of course presupposes that everyone who benefits from the enforcement of intellectual property rights is rich, which is not the case. To use only the most obvious example, think of all the people employed by major studios in all sorts of capacities, professional and otherwise, who only have jobs because the studios are a profitable business enterprise. The more exceptions that are made to enforceable intellectual property, the less profitable the enterprises become. Filmmaking tends to be a rather expensive collaborative art form, especially in the form that people prefer to enjoy their films.

Another way of looking at what this man did would be he took it upon himself to knowingly infringe on the valid intellectual property rights of others.

I don't disagree with any of this. But mine was a simplistic statement, and the face of that law is typically the big name/act.

[DWB1960]

Originally Posted by 7StringJazz

But the story remains the act of a 92yr old man who saw a need and decided to 'circumvent established law' and send out his movie care packages to deployed soldiers living in harms way. When he received heartfelt thanks, he was off and running. I'm blown away by it. His son says it was motivation for him to stay in the game. At frickin 92!! This guy is a hero on many levels IMO. But yes, he broke the laws.

92!

Most of us will die well before that milestone.

And some of you are dissing him?

Shame on you.

[cutaway]

Originally Posted by Donnie B.

92!

Most of us will die well before that milestone.

And some of you are dissing him?

Shame on you.

I fail to see what age has to do with it. Would you feel differently if he were 35?

[chrisjw5]

Originally Posted by cutaway

I fail to see what age has to do with it. Would you feel differently if he were 35?

Exactly. Do we have different laws for the elderly?

"I mostly stopped at the red light officer". "Right then, over 85.....? Off you go. Happy almost-motoring."

"Seriously your honor, it was just a little bit of rape. And I'm 90."

[The Last Rebel]

Originally Posted by chrisjw5

Exactly. Do we have different laws for the elderly?

"I mostly stopped at the red light officer". "Right then, over 85.....? Off you go. Happy almost-motoring."

"Seriously your honor, it was just a little bit of rape. And I'm 90."

I agree though, his age is irrelevant.

[DWB1960]

Originally Posted by cutaway

I fail to see what age has to do with it. Would you feel differently if he were 35?

Yes, I would.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by Donnie B.

Yes, I would.

Why?

[DWB1960]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

Why?

Cause:

#1 - It's a victimless crime, in that no one is getting physically or emotionally hurt.

#2 - For the makers of those movies it amounts to a 0.0000000000000001% loss of profits.

#3 - For the guys and gals serving overseas it amounts to a couple of hours of enjoyment.

#4 - You make it to 90, and I'm gonna give you some slack as long as you are not hurting anyone.

My mom is 81 and my dad is 80. God love them.

This guy is 92 and trying to help the kids overseas. GOD LOVE HIM!

[cutaway]

Originally Posted by Donnie B.

Cause:

#1 - It's a victimless crime, in that no one is getting physically or emotionally hurt.

This is not true.

[DWB1960]

Originally Posted by cutaway

This is not true.

Yes it is.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by Donnie B.

Yes it is.

I don't disagree with the second part of your assertion (that no one is likely to be physically or emotionally hurt), but it is only a "victimless" crime if one abstracts it from all the other instances of non-commercial piracy going on in the digital age. In other words, taken separately it might feel that way, but when these individual instances are aggregated, they create a pretty substantial infringement to the content production and distribution companies, and are hardly victimless as they likely begin to dip into the bottom line.

[DWB1960]

Originally Posted by A-Bone

I don't disagree with the second part of your assertion (that no one is likely to be physically or emotionally hurt), but it is only a "victimless" crime if one abstracts it from all the other instances of non-commercial piracy going on in the digital age. In other words, taken separately it might feel that way, but when these individual instances are aggregated, they create a pretty substantial infringement to the content production and distribution companies, and are hardly victimless as they likely begin to dip into the bottom line.

Sorry, but blah blah blah blah blah.

It's an extremely old dude helping out kids overseas serving his country.

[A-Bone]

Originally Posted by Donnie B.

Cause:

#1 - It's a victimless crime, in that no one is getting physically or emotionally hurt.

#2 - For the makers of those movies it amounts to a 0.0000000000000001% loss of profits.

#3 - For the guys and gals serving overseas it amounts to a couple of hours of enjoyment.

#4 - You make it to 90, and I'm gonna give you some slack as long as you are not hurting anyone.

My mom is 81 and my dad is 80. God love them.

This guy is 92 and trying to help the kids overseas. GOD LOVE HIM!

Thanks for the honest response.

As far as point #2 is concerned, I suspect that aggregating all the instances of digital infringement produces a relatively large figure. I do not subscribe to the industry's claim that every instance equals a lost sale, as I do suspect that technology has made copyright infringement so easy that people will download or burn for curiosity more than they would buy a bootleg.

That having been said, I also do not accept the argument that this sort of behavior does not hurt the bottom line at all. My guess is that the reality is somewhere between the two positions.

As far as the individual instances of bootlegging and profit are concerned, the aggregated reality for the rights holders might be the death of 1000 cuts. In other words, it is possible to see any individual instance as not problematic, but when those individual instances are compiled, I am not so convinced that they do not constitute real loss of revenue for the industry.

[losangeles33]

Originally Posted by Donnie B.

Cause:

#1 - It's a victimless crime, in that no one is getting physically or emotionally hurt.

#2 - For the makers of those movies it amounts to a 0.0000000000000001% loss of profits.

#3 - For the guys and gals serving overseas it amounts to a couple of hours of enjoyment.

#4 - You make it to 90, and I'm gonna give you some slack as long as you are not hurting anyone.

My mom is 81 and my dad is 80. God love them.

This guy is 92 and trying to help the kids overseas. GOD LOVE HIM!

Sorry, it's not true. What he's doing is no better than stealing a dozen cases of cheetos for his 'care package'. Stealing movies is stealing; regardless of whom it's going to. The deployed can easily watch the moves when they return; for a buck at a redbox. This guy repulses me.