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News Vizio fined for smart TV spying programme

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 7 Feb 2017.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Gareth Halfacree, 7 Feb 2017
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  2. greigaitken

    greigaitken Minimodder

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    Surely someone's 'stolen' data, just like property should be surrendered when found to be taken without consent. Just like if i buy a stolen car, i have zero rights to that car.
     
    greigaitken, 7 Feb 2017
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  3. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Problem there lies in the duplicative nature of data. You steal a physical object, you're taking it with the intention to permanently deprive its rightful owner of its use - which is quite literally the definition of theft. You copy ephemeral data, though, and the rightful owner can carry on using it - meaning it is not, in the eyes of the law, theft.

    That's why we have separate laws for things like copyright infringement and also why joyriding is punished as "taking without the owner's consent" (TWOCing), and not theft - 'cos there's no way to prove that the joyrider wasn't going to bring the car back when they were done (which would mean they didn't intend to permanently deprive the rightful owner of the car's use, and the best you could do 'em for without the offence of TWOCing would be theft of petrol and a bit of tyre rubber.)

    Ooh, on an even further aside 'cos that last "theft of petrol" bit reminded me: that's actually how the first computer crimes were prosecuted. Before there was such a thing as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (USA) and Computer Misuse Act (UK), a couple of crackers got done for "theft of electricity" to the sum of a dollar or two.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 7 Feb 2017
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  4. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    Now to fine the rest of the industry for doing the exact same thing...
     
    Anfield, 7 Feb 2017
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  5. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Not disagreeing with you but that's not what copyright protection organisations have been saying for years, they equate the copying of data as theft, although I'm probably taking that to literally as it's obvious they mean the copying of data means they've been deprived of a sale.

    It would be nice if our personal data had the same protections copyright laws afford.
     
    Corky42, 7 Feb 2017
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  6. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Doesn't matter what copyright protection organisations think: theft is very well defined by the Theft Act 1968 in the UK, and it requires that the thief 'dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it' (Section 1 (1)). If copyright infringement were theft, we would never have needed the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
    It does, in the UK at least: the Data Protection Act 1998.
     
    Gareth Halfacree, 7 Feb 2017
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  7. edzieba

    edzieba Virtual Realist

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    Add another reason to the pile for ignoring any 'smart' features a TV has, and buying it as purely a 'dumb' display and adding any 'smart' features you want via an external device (Android Fire, Nvidia Shield, Chromecast, etc).
    Not only does it avoid crap like this and the Samsung TV privacy debacle, it means that in a year or so when inevitably services become defunct or software stops being updated, you can just swap out a box rather than needing a new TV.
     
    edzieba, 7 Feb 2017
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  8. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    @Gareth, yes legally those laws exist but i think it's safe to say the entertainment industry and some politicians equate the copying of data as theft despite how it's defined in law, and IMO the DPA is sorely lacking when it comes to protections.

    I'm not disputing how the legal system defines these things BTW as for one i don't want to read though pages of legalese and also I'm not looking for an argument (apologies if that's how my post came across), i was simple trying to highlight how (IMO) the protections afforded to the public and the entertainment industry seem unequal.
     
    Corky42, 7 Feb 2017
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  9. Locknload

    Locknload Jolly Good Egg

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    Fact: The Federation Against Copyright Theft?

    A.) Is there's a mission that does not legally exist then?

    B.) Is it possible that i can claim copyright ownership of all my personal data, only to be used and viewed at my discretion as i own the personal rights to my image and written correspondence?

    C.) Why can people like Christiano Ronaldo protect their image rights on a monetary level, yet little old me cannot protect my own personal and private data?
     
    Last edited: 7 Feb 2017
    Locknload, 7 Feb 2017
    #9
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