Are You Talking To Me?

12:59:06 AM EST
Feeling Angry No sympathy for the Giant Unregulated Motion Picture Industry was to be found by a defiant individual in Boca Raton, Florida. If anything, the Motion Picture Industry should be on trial here for lackluster products and over-priced movie tickets. The theatres alone make a huge fortune on their $4.50 sodas and popcorn. One might ask "Why is a 16 oz. soda 3 dollars more in a theatre then at your neighborhood 7-11? Is it a special top secret movie theatre only soda? So they spend millions making a motion picture, but they make a hundred million dollar profit just at the theatre alone. Then we have pay per view, followed by Pay station Cable, and then of course the Movie goes on sale as a DVD. And if that's not enough they end up in Video rental stores. So where do these "Internet Pirates" come in? You know the people who share their movies off their computers, from their homes. How dare the Motion Picture Industry cry about one citizen sharing a movie with another citizen. What's next, video rentals. What if you should spend $4.00 to rent a movie, but before you returned you let your brother take it home and watch it? Does that necessarily imply that you’re a "Pirate" because you shared a movie with someone that didn't pay the video store their $4.00? Can we even say for sure that they would have even spent the money to watch the movie in the first place? Am I to assume that the video store would consider me a "Pirate" and could say I caused them to lose money? Where will it end? If someone were to sell the movie for profit, grant it, make him walk the plank. Aye! This is an absurd quote from Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of MPAA. "We won't stand by while people steal valuable copyrighted material with no regards whatsoever for the law or for the rights of creative people to be paid for their efforts. With these lawsuits, our message to internet THIEVES becomes loud and clear - you are not anonymous, we will find you, and you will be held responsible: You can Click but you can't hide." Whoa, whoa, whoa...did he actually say "You Can Click but you can't hide?" It's kind of a mixture of The Sheriff of Nottingham and J. Edgar Hoover. Are you kidding me, it's all about squeezing the public for more blood money. Who do you think gets the money from the Lawsuits? Do you think the directors get it, or maybe the actors, or perhaps the so called "Creative People"? And when they say "You are not anonymous, doesn't that imply that we have no privacy in our own homes. People, they are saying we know what’s on your computer, in your house, and we don't need a search warrant to come on in either. Think about it, "YOU CAN CLICK BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE", Big brother is watching us and his name is "The Motion Picture Industry." If they get away with invading our privacy just to make some rich lawyers even richer, then what's next? Where does it stop? Where do they draw the line and haven't they already crossed it. This isn't about "The rights of the creative people". They got paid and this has nothing to do with them, so don't expect them to be compensated because this money is going to the people who don't need any more money. The greedy and not the needy. I don't know maybe I'm getting a little paranoid, but when an Industry as powerful and influential as The Motion Picture Association of America tells us they “know what were clicking on and we can't hide from them,” then this issue becomes way bigger than some movie being shared on the internet, it becomes an issue of Civil Rights, Privacy, and protection under our own Constitution. They couldn't care less if people are sharing their movies on the internet, they're more interested in the bigger picture, which is setting a precedent of personal privacy invasion, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. That’s the opening of “Pandora’s Box”. Is the court to rule that my personal computer is not “Personal” at all? David faces Goliath alone and only armed by the Constitution of The United States and the rights each citizen is guaranteed and protected under. Or will the court rule that Big Industry is above even our own constitution, after all, they are a very powerful and influential group with an army of the best attorneys money can buy. They have the defendants in this action settling over the phone for $5,000 on up. A separate law office has been hired to do nothing else but make as much money as they can by scaring everyday, law abiding citizens into settlements. Although most of the defendants in these suits were unaware of any law prohibiting “peer-to-peer” file sharing, they were cited copyright law from 1976 pre-Internet and even told they could do prison time of up to 5 years and face statutory damages of as much of $30,000 for each motion picture on their computer, whether in whole or in part. The hotline advised this writer that their client was “willing to settle for $6,000”, and told there was plenty of evidence and whether one “knew it was illegal or not, that had no bearing on the case”. This is where Mr. Bartels enters the picture. Mr. Bartels contacts the attorneys after being given a summons. The attorneys say they can’t discuss the case and all they can do is direct Mr. Bartels to the “settlement hotline”. The phone call to the “settlement hotline” is very reminiscent of taking a time share tour. Mr. Bartels goes on to tell the settlement agent that he does not and never did know of any law he had violated. He asks the agent “how do you know what’s on my computer and did you actually go on my computer and view the two movies you claim I have on there, because if you did then you would have seen that they are not what you claim they are. How did you get access to files on my computer, don’t you need a warrant for that? Who would issue a warrant for something so minute anyway” The voice on the other end seems a bit caught off guard and could only come up with “we have plenty of evidence against you and you should settle now while you still can”. It is at this point that Mr. Bartels demanded disclosure of any and all evidence against him, advising agent that he would be defending himself and therefore had the right to see if this hotline was set up as a Money making bluff. They informed him that they would ask the law firm they were sub contracted out to and let Mr. Bartels know in a day or 2, and that was the last he heard of them. There are “Real” Pirates and counterfitters out there who intentionally break the law and cause billions of dollars a year. These people are criminals who know they’re breaking the law, yet continue to break it anyways. Then we have those who are browsing online and join Peer-To-Peer groups that make it possible to share files with others. It could be a movie, it could be a book, or it could be a collection of poems. It doesn’t matter. If there are companies on the internet that make it possible for anyone to connect to MILLIONS of users, then that’s who they should concentrate on. There should be some sort of warning as to what is and what isn’t acceptable to download, as well as prohibiting, instead of encouraging the use of these files. The movie industry has had their day in court many times over the last few years with the Internet Sites over these very issues, but the companies are still up and running, no changes, disclaimers, no problem. That sends a message to the users of these sites that “everything is legal or else we wouldn’t be here still.” If laws are being broken, then takeit up with the companies that are providing the service, not the end users that have no intention to violate any copyright laws and are just there to have some fun. This is a far stretch from what is considered “Pirating”, in fact the money that the industry actually looses are from Real Pirates who make and sell quality bootleg copies of movies, not from the guy next door who has no intention of breaking any laws, if in fact any laws actually exist at all. What are we going to do about the people who have their own movies which they purchased on their computers as part of the newest home media set up? Are these people going to be labeled as “Distributors”? What if I buy a movie and show it at my own home to 20 people. Are you coming after me? I guess I have to keep in mind the immortal words of the MPAA, “You can click, but you can’t hide”, or translated into proper English, “ Big Business Is Watching You”. Now, walk the plank ye pirate. If you enjoyed this article, please visit our Family sites at www.jaysplan.com and www.mistermomshome.com May we also reccomend That you visit www.rockpaper.blogspot.com for an eclectic Array of Stories by Jay Bartels a.k.a BocaBoyJay

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1:12:18 AM EDT
Feeling Mischievous
Hearing Eddie Money

What Should I Do? - Leave Comment, We'll Decide together, Jay.  This is an actual group of letters, and I couldn't resist messing with her!

From Nora and Johnson Koffi
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire

Attn:Jay Bartels

Dear Kind Sir,

May this mail find you well and meet you in good faith.

I am Nora koffi from Seirra-Leone I am the Daughter of Dr. koffi Edward who was the managing director and owner of KOFFED Import/Export company,KOFFED Logistics company and KOFFED Glass company here in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire West Africa.

Dear I humbly wish to write you this letter in order that you will assist me and my only brother Johnson in this money transfer to your bank account in your country for investment in a profitable venture.

On the 15th march 2004 our late father attended the general meeting of all the import/export companies in the country and unfortunately he was poisoned by his business rivals and he later died in the hospital.

But before his death,after staying in bed for three days in the hospital,he told me that he deposited the sum of US$10,000,000.(Ten Million US dollars) in a bank here in abidjan on behalf of his foreign business partner in abroad and he advised me to look for a co-beneficiary from abroad to transfer these money to his account for investment in his country.

Presently,the members of his extended family has claimed all his companies leaving nothing behind for us,his extended family members also sent us away from his house where we are living and they seized all our house hold properties.

We are presently now staying in a hotel here in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire because of our lives and the security of the valid documents which the bank gave to our late father on the day he made the deposit lest the members of our late fathers extended family will kill us and Claim these money in the bank.

Based on our ignorance in the international business world of this sort,we hereby solicit for your urgent assistance as the co-beneficiary of these money, for the bank to transfer these money to your safe and secured bank account in your country.

for further proceedings as we wait for your soonest response. Please,we don't want neither third party nor publicity of any kind in this business transaction as we have agreed to offer you 20% of the total sum and 80% will be for us respectively as you will also assist us to joinyou in your country as soon as this money is transfered to your account in your country for the investment.Thanks in advance as we wait for your soonest response.

Yours Sincerely,

Noraand Johnson koffi.

 

(I sent her)

I’m sorry, the Dental plan you requested is only in the USA. Best of luck. Abraham Lincoln

Dear Sir,

I did not understand what you mean by dental plan in the USA, I contacted you to help us invest our money in your country, please if you are willing and ready to help us invest our money, it is very important that you tell us or if you know that you can't be able to help us tell us to enable us look for another person who is willing and ready to help us invest the money.

I am waiting to hear from you soonest.

Sincerely,

Nora Koffi.

(I sent her this)

No dental outside USA. Please help with a donation For Huricane Katrina. How much can we count on you for? John Wilkes Booth

 

Dear sir,

I have still never understand what you mean. I want you to understand that I contacted you to help us invest our money in your country, 20% of the total money will be for you for your help and you will be the person that will invest the money for us.

For the huricane katrina, we have agreed to donate 5% of the total money if what you are telling me about the hurican katrina is truth. but you have to help so that the bank here transfer our money to your bank account in your country. I have the documents which our late father gave to us concerning the money in the bank, I have gone to the bank and presented the documents to the bank director and he confirmed it ok, but I told him that we are ready for the transfer of our money to a foreign bank account and he said that we have to submit to their bank a secure foreign bank account informations where our money will be transfered, that was why we contcted you to help us, please we need your help, send to us your secure foreign bank account informations so that we submit it to the bank for the transfer of our money. I need your telephone number so that I speak with you. We are waiting to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Nora and Johnson koffi.

 

Jay Sent Them

Thank you so much for agreeing to donate to The hurricane Katrina Fund. We will send the bank information in Zurich, where you can sendyour generous donation of $100,000 American . You are truly a God among mortals. Your Friend, Orville Wright

To be continued- Stay Tuned and you can help me with the next reply. Oh yeah, She will write again.

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