In (e-mail address removed) had this to say:
My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
2 cents: I use Mozilla, and it has a menu item "View | Page Info"
that shows the components of the displayed web page (files/banners/
gifs/jpgs/avi's etc). You can often select the item you want (the
video for instance) and then save just it to disk by clicking the
convienient "Save As" button - as easy as that. It often works when
the "normal" methods (like right-click | save) do not.
I'll answer that with the point of the OP, who's likely gone now, just to
take the time to do so. I hope you don't mind the digression or the likes.
If you do then, well, hang up now.
Yeah and a lot of sites don't even allow you to do that. I'm not going to
make a judgment call here but what I will say is that they're using
technology to better protect what may or may not be their assets to ensure
that it is used in a manner that they see fitting. It is really getting to
the point where if you want to watch audio and video content (while obeying
what is either the law OR what has been claimed as the law) one needs to
watch it in real time with a broadband connection.
In this case the person positing the question wanted to ensure that they
could save streaming media (audio and visual) for another time. If we take
the time out from the trolling, well, we see you can but the question then
becomes, "Can we do so legally or, if you'd rather, morally?"
I will leave all personal judgment aside and make, instead, and observation.
I take that back - I've come back to append this statement. I'll leave MOST
personal judgment aside and try to be as objective as I can.
DRM, digital rights management, has been the bane of everyone it seems - the
people support it are fought by those who seem to think that anything online
is fair game and anyone that is on one side or the other is part of the
oppressive Right or the stealing Lefties. (An example view of one party
might be; Then, well, anything on television's fair game or, well, it was in
the street so it belongs to me? Those sort of views. The irony is that few
people comprehend copyright law really.)
The problem that I see is that the people with the political clout are the
moneyed folks and they have the content that needs managing. Fair uses are
being harmed when I have a DVD that I bought and paid for and can't back-up
without having actually violated the law due to DCMA - I live in the USA.
And the extremists are blind and think there's no acceptable reasons for
DRM. The reality is that I own probably about 50 domain names and have all
sorts of content online. 90% of them have clear copyright policies that say,
"Here's my stuff, take it - free - and use it as you will including changing
it a little and claiming it is your own if you want." I've never used a
single bit of rights management as my content isn't valuable enough but I
would if I found it needed to be. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle of the
road.
My reasons for my views are this:
If I put my car in the street and leave the keys in it, I should expect it
to be stolen. (Well not where I live but that's another story for another
day.) The person stealing it is still a criminal but, the reality is, I was
silly for doing that. So I will point to my particular area and my
understanding of the law as it was explained to me. The person who took the
car, if they did, in the above instance isn't guilty of stealing an
automobile in my State. (I live in Maine - your own laws are likely quite
different.) Instead they're guilty of, I understand, "Improper use of a
motor vehicle." It is still a felony but the onus is on me. I'd left the
keys in there.
If I put something online I can expect it will be stolen. I can prosecute
but the loss is my responsibility because I failed to protect what's seen as
a high risk property. So goes the law.
Yet, at the same time, if someone comes onto (I think that's the key here)
my property and steals something - even breaking into my unlocked home then
the "breaking and entering" is when they enter the home and not when they
actually break a door or window. Even if it's unlocked and the windows wide
open? It is still the same crime. They came onto my property and stole it or
committed said crime.
In this case we have someone going to a site where there is a restriction (a
no trespassing sign or a sign that says what they can and can't do there)
and they want to do something that violates that. It can be done, just as
one can steal a car or break into a house, that doesn't mean that it should
be. That, not the method, was the point of my initial response and while it
wasn't very detailed - I didn't say how to commit the potential crime - and
thus it reached this point. Your way of saving stuff is quite handy at times
and effective but in all cases one should ask for permission first I
suppose.
The above opinion is entirely my own, it attempts to close this silliness
(I'm not sure if the other person's responded) once and for all considering
the original poster's likely long since gone and will never even bother to
read this stuff. The opinion above represents what I'd expect a lawyer to
tell me and is not legal advise. It is not meant to reflect on my own
personal interests, the Microsoft MVP program, the fascination that people
have with green tomatoes, nor should be considered proof of aliens. I assume
no liability, inability, Farsi ability, nor frankly Billy for any of the
above beyond that of sharing the opinions I hold of how I think laws might
be interpreted in a court of law. Considering that I make it a point to hire
a lawyer to interpret anything business related and try to stay outside of
courts at all costs accepting my opinion of how such courts might (or might
not) decide is pure silly-ability and subjects the person doing so to all
sorts of responsibility for which I want no accountability which is why I've
typed this gibberish at the bottom in hopes that it keeps my butt out of a
position of vulnerability. Quantum Sine Non Philharmonic Bonsai Quid Pro
Quotient Squared.
--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/ http://kgiii.info/
"Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and
its solution is its own reward." - Sherlock Holmes
