This Needs to Stop! (PETITION)

[Steve]

This whole thing is kind of silly. Focus puts these episodes out on radio and online for FREE. They don't get any money for people listening online! Or on the radio! The only way they make money is if people buy the CDs. We should sign a petition against the illegal uploading of episodes, not against a website that hosts them. That's like boycotting a blog that promotes popular YouTube VEVO videos. Therefore I will not be signing this petition.

[Parker Family]

This whole thing is kind of silly. Focus puts these episodes out on radio and online for FREE. They don't get any money for people listening online! Or on the radio! ...

I think the difference is FOTF gave its consent for the radios and whitsend.org while it DIDN'T give consent to people posting it online.

[American Eagle]

We should sign a petition against the illegal uploading of episodes, not against a website that hosts them.

This site is promoting the illegal activity. If a drug dealer were arrested for his crimes, would you defend him saying, "Don't put the drug dealer in jail, put the growers in jail for creating it!" Of course not. The episodes would not be heard without FAIO.

(Yes, I did compare FAIO to drugs... sue me.)

However, Steve, if you don't feel like you should sign the petition, please do not. This is for people who want to take a stand.

[Jason Whits Son]

But if you notice in my previous post, they both say not to download them, and to request donating to Focus and say not to listen to episodes from there all the time. PLus the ads that are there, are not for there personal gain, yes some of it may go to help the site, but other than that they donate it to focus. So it's not really all that bad of a site, but if a user uses it wrongly than that's when it gets bad.

[Laura Ingalls]

I think the point is that it's so easy to misuse, and no way to make sure it's not being misused. People who want to download illegally generally don't pay attention to a polite request not to do so, especially when it's made so easy for them to access the episodes all in one place.

[Angel]

Laura posted right as I was submitting my post, so it says sort of the same thing, but in a different way, so hopefully the message will be understood.

The problem is, a lot of the users may not realize how easy it is to slip into the illegal side of the site. A bunch of you are correct; at this moment (er, last I checked), they aren't doing anything illegal, in fact, they support FOTF.

I personally am not saying they're evil or something. What I am saying, is that they are allowing their members/guests (since you don't have to have an account) to tread on thin ice without realizing it.

In this case, the website does warn against illegal activity, but for me (and everyone who has signed the petition), they come too close to the border and are putting their users at risk. Meltsner says it really well. The ends don't justify the means.

[American Eagle]

Well, I'm leaving on vacation. Hopefully when I return, we'll have even more signatures. Thanks to all who've signed it!

[Leonard Meltsner]

Laura posted right as I was submitting my post, so it says sort of the same thing, but in a different way, so hopefully the message will be understood.

The problem is, a lot of the users may not realize how easy it is to slip into the illegal side of the site. A bunch of you are correct; at this moment (er, last I checked), they aren't doing anything illegal, in fact, they support FOTF.

I personally am not saying they're evil or something. What I am saying, is that they are allowing their members/guests (since you don't have to have an account) to tread on thin ice without realizing it.

In this case, the website does warn against illegal activity, but for me (and everyone who has signed the petition), they come too close to the border and are putting their users at risk. Meltsner says it really well. The ends don't justify the means.

Thank you, I've thrown out a ton of Odyssey references in my rants in this thread. I wonder how many have been picked up... I'm glad there's so many signatures already. I now wish I'd put my username like everyone else, instead of using "Anonymous"

[American Eagle]

I now wish I'd put my username like everyone else, instead of using "Anonymous"

If you want, I can delete your entry and therefore, you can create a new one.

[Leonard Meltsner]

That's OK, I'm sure I'll survive (as long as FAIO doesn't)

[Marvin D.]

Wow, I read through most of this thread and didn't post. . .but I've listened to FAIO episodes quite a bit (though as of late, I've stopped), and I don't need to reiterate what was all ready said, so I signed the petition. I do hope this goes somewhere.

[snubs]

This whole thing is kind of silly. Focus puts these episodes out on radio and online for FREE. They don't get any money for people listening online! Or on the radio! The only way they make money is if people buy the CDs. We should sign a petition against the illegal uploading of episodes, not against a website that hosts them. That's like boycotting a blog that promotes popular YouTube VEVO videos. Therefore I will not be signing this petition.

I see what you are saying, Steve. I signed the petition because it allows people to download the episodes too easily. It also streams episodes that were uploaded illegally. I mean, I would be perfectly happy if they would just change their site so that people could not download the episodes for free.

[Lee]

*signs the petition*

[Steve]

This whole thing is kind of silly. Focus puts these episodes out on radio and online for FREE. They don't get any money for people listening online! Or on the radio! The only way they make money is if people buy the CDs. We should sign a petition against the illegal uploading of episodes, not against a website that hosts them. That's like boycotting a blog that promotes popular YouTube VEVO videos. Therefore I will not be signing this petition.

I see what you are saying, Steve. I signed the petition because it allows people to download the episodes too easily. It also streams episodes that were uploaded illegally. I mean, I would be perfectly happy if they would just change their site so that people could not download the episodes for free.

Well that why aren't we petitioning for that?!

[snubs]

This whole thing is kind of silly. Focus puts these episodes out on radio and online for FREE. They don't get any money for people listening online! Or on the radio! The only way they make money is if people buy the CDs. We should sign a petition against the illegal uploading of episodes, not against a website that hosts them. That's like boycotting a blog that promotes popular YouTube VEVO videos. Therefore I will not be signing this petition.

I see what you are saying, Steve. I signed the petition because it allows people to download the episodes too easily. It also streams episodes that were uploaded illegally. I mean, I would be perfectly happy if they would just change their site so that people could not download the episodes for free.

Well that why aren't we petitioning for that?!

Would you like to create another petition to do just that then??

[Peachey Keen]

I signed!! I know people think it's no big deal. The webmaster of FAIO is just linking to other peoples uploads, but lots of people still download from it. It's just like how people used to see baseball games. The people that didn't buy tickets, they looked through knotholes in the fence. More people saw the game, but the people on the teams, agents, or whoever lost money because of those who didn't pay to get in.

Plus, we're not supposed to give the devil a foothold. Don't give people the means to do something wrong! Also, if you even have an inkling that something is wrong, ask God what to do.

[Dallas R.]

This whole thing is kind of silly. Focus puts these episodes out on radio and online for FREE. They don't get any money for people listening online! Or on the radio! The only way they make money is if people buy the CDs. We should sign a petition against the illegal uploading of episodes, not against a website that hosts them. That's like boycotting a blog that promotes popular YouTube VEVO videos. Therefore I will not be signing this petition.

Yeah, I've still got to agree. I know people have used this site illegally, and maybe now it's time for me to admit I've used it illegally once or twice myself. But even downloading a few episodes from the site is technically no different than recording it off the radio. Both are illegal, and shouldn't be justified as right. But it doesn't make the website illegal. What the individual does is illegal. Let's put the effort into stopping people from selling illegal downloads online, and keep up sites like FAIO that allow us to listen to episodes in a similar way that we would on the radio.

Note: I still do not technically support FAIO, but I also will not sign a petition against them. Actually, instead of shutting them down, what I'd like to see happen is to keep the website up, but for them to make some changes. I'd suggest they take off random episodes from each album, so that people can't illegally download entire albums. This would give people much more incentive to actually buy the real album after hearing some of what the album has to offer.

[odysseyfan1]

Both are not illegal. It's perfectly legal to copy music (and I'm sure anything else you hear) off the radio according to the "Audio Home Recording Act of 1992." You can read more about it here: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/AHRA.html.

[IForgotMyUserName]

I'm curious, everyone keeps repeating that listening to the episodes on the site are legal but that downloading from them is illegal. Is there ever really a legal difference, say in the United States or Canada? I would agree there can be an ethical difference.

[odysseyfan1]

I once heard that in Canada you can download from torrents/ect. as long as you didn't sell them. Whether this is true of not, I don't know...