John Lewis using downloaded movie rips to show off their macs

[Lee H]

what kind of monster disables smileys

The same luddites that turn off signatures and avatars as they think the additonal 30k used is going to rape their bandwidth usage figures over the year

Either that or AOL users lol

So we've had 2 people visit 2 places and find 2 various types of piracy...

I wonder if we'll find any more by the end of today?

[TheAnimus]

what kind of monster disables smileys

The same level of monsters who nag someone to use their lunch to do something stupid, and don't even say thank you.

[Gordy]

thats seriously dodgy, and i think it would be a scandal if the distributers did not sue JL for this infringment, as this is clearly a case where they are using it as a commercial trailer (not juts for home viewing).

if they are not fined as heavily, or more plausibly much heavier than than others who have obtained illegal content then it just shows how corrupt the "system" is.

Interesting thought. That said the movie industry in the UK have been far less sue happy than the MPAA.

Gordo and Hexus for the win! Made The Inquirer -> John Lewis branded a pirate - The INQUIRER

Ok, affriad its not as good as gordo's find.

But the Slone Square Peter Jones (A John Lewis by any other name) would seam to be pirating music.

A dvd in their imac is playing all sorts of popular music, all of it low quality MP3, many named Track 1 and the like, which would suggest it is in no way legally obtained, as some of the tracks had ID3 info which alludes of piracy.

But hey, thats probably the staff for their own use, rather than demo'ing.

Also, mac users, the mighty mouse REALLY is awful, i can't believe someone held the prototype and said YES this is the completely un-natural hand posistion you will be using.

More and more interesting. I wonder what other stores and other demo's are using similar things.

[Nickg]

Interesting thought. That said the movie industry in the UK have been far less sue happy than the MPAA.



More and more interesting. I wonder what other stores and other demo's are using similar things.

ya if you are a business its a totally different ball game. all software has to be 100% legit, and not just that but correctly licensed too. hence you see a lot of "freeware" or shareware apps, but they are not for commercial use.

Similarly a business could not use Office 2007 Home/Office/Student version even if they bought it.

similarly, JL cannot use a pirated copy of a film and expect to get away with it!

they have to purchase the commercial rights to demo a copyrighted film through the correct distribution channel, and trust me this is like more than £8 for the DVD lol.

LJ response will be that they did not initiate this, nor is it a processed behaviour, but the "ingenuity" of shop floor staff. But the fact of the matter is that JL is guilty for in this case then, not controlling its staff, or its hardware showcases correctly.

but if the MPAA does nothing then what message does it send out to other commercial businesses, or indeed bedroom viewers.

[iranu]

I expect this will be an employee who has nicked it off the net and brought it into work.

I've seen managers not knowing what their employees bring in and play on the company's demo equipment, most noticeably the time I was in PCW and a CD was playing in one of the machines over the tannoy system. Track one was ok, but track two had a huge amount of profanity to do with actions of an individual and their own mother which was blasted out store wide. I've never seen a PCW manager move so fast to hit the off switch. He must have sprinted 50 yards!

[MadduckUK]

The same level of monsters who nag someone to use their lunch to do something stupid, and don't even say thank you.

i gave you a clap, you didnt take any pics

[Mossy]

i gave you a clap, you didnt take any pics

i find it hard taking pictures of MP3's can anyone comment?

[med2003]

OK. Popped into JL on Oxford Street over lunch, for a laff. Most Macs were off, but those that were on weren't doing much. No music or films. So could see no evidence of piracy there.

[Saracen]

.......

LJ response will be that they did not initiate this, nor is it a processed behaviour, but the "ingenuity" of shop floor staff. But the fact of the matter is that JL is guilty for in this case then, not controlling its staff, or its hardware showcases correctly.

but if the MPAA does nothing then what message does it send out to other commercial businesses, or indeed bedroom viewers.

I'd bet John Lewis management know nothing about this, and I'll bet that when they find out, they pull this rip file very quickly. I'd also bet that some staff "education" occurs, if indeed this was put on even by misguided staff. But, the possibility remains that it could have been uploaded by a mischievous member of the public .... or disgruntled ex-staff.

John Lewis has as straight-laced an attitude as any company I've ever come across and I doubt for an instant that they'd knowingly do this, or condone it being done.

As for copyright infringement, yes, it certainly looks like it. It's hard to imagine that the rights owner would approve a rip, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that licences to use this movie for demonstration do exist and have been paid for .... and the rip was used for convenience by a staff member that didn't appreciate the finer points, or indeed, how it looks. It'll certainly embarrass JL.

But for a civil action for copyright to be taken, there's only really three possible objectives.

1) Damages
2) Seizure of offending copies
3) Injunction to prevent reinfringing.

I'm sure JL will delete that copy as soon as they realise it's there, so that nails 2). I very much doubt they officially knew it was there in the first place and it goes against the entire ethos of the company, so I don't imagine there'd be any intentional reinfringing, and that's 3). And damages relate to compensation for losses by the rights owner. If there have been any, and it doesn't include punitive damages, then I'd bet JL will pay up without a wimper and it certainly wouldn't need copyright action. Legal actions tend to be expensive and courts don't like frivolous ones, so there'd be no case if JL paid any fees due, and for what it costs, I'd say there's a zero chance that they wouldn't.

As for any criminal element, that requires an element of intent, and again, I doubt that that exists.

[MadduckUK]

i find it hard taking pictures of MP3's can anyone comment?

i can comment. take pics of the ID3 tags, i would presume they would be visual

[IBM]

Sorry

[pauldarkside]

I wonder where they'd stand with regards to a public showing of a 12 certificate film in a place where minors can be present?

[pauldarkside]

Sorry

As shown by jYAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRhn lewis?

[IBM]

As shown by jYAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRhn lewis?

I am, at this time, undecided whether that is terrible, or brilliant.

I'll get back to you.

[Saracen]

Apparently, these files have already been noticed and deleted.

[MadduckUK]

destroying evidence!