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innovation-hacking2

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shitposting_dataset5

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[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content..." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get..." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences..." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country..." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe..." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey..." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3", ">\n\nw" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3", ">\n\nw", ">\n\nBreaking news :Kim Dotcom moves from NZ to Belarus" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3", ">\n\nw", ">\n\nBreaking news :Kim Dotcom moves from NZ to Belarus", ">\n\nNothing says 'sanction me harder, daddy' as much as this." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3", ">\n\nw", ">\n\nBreaking news :Kim Dotcom moves from NZ to Belarus", ">\n\nNothing says 'sanction me harder, daddy' as much as this.", ">\n\nThat'll show em" ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3", ">\n\nw", ">\n\nBreaking news :Kim Dotcom moves from NZ to Belarus", ">\n\nNothing says 'sanction me harder, daddy' as much as this.", ">\n\nThat'll show em", ">\n\nLove my Pirate Bay. Been using it for many years now. Sometimes it's difficult to log on but eventually get it done Most of my videos music and ebooks are off there." ]

[ "Post Nintendo fan content in Belarus to avoid DMCA", ">\n\nHaha", ">\n\nThis seems like an invitation for subtle propaganda from unfriendly nations.", ">\n\nI was thinking the same thing.\nIt's just a Free License to import western culture.", ">\n\nDoes this even make a dent in profits? Belarus is a tiny country of less than 10 million people, not exactly a key market for media. \nThe US has probably sneezed more money at Ukraine in the last week than Belarus has paid to US media companies in the last 50 years.", ">\n\nProbably not a huge dent, but it could be the start of a trend, where other countries follow suit.", ">\n\nI doubt there are any large countries whom depend on exports that would just go and ignore intellectual properties rights...", ">\n\nChina is the closest to fitting that criteria", ">\n\nYes, but China also very much does not want influence from western culture, and therefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there, so western media companies don't have as much to lose there as one might expect.", ">\n\n\ntherefore greatly restricts what can be legally distributed there\n\nThe point is bootlegs can't be legally distributed in China, but the trade is huge. There is literally no Hollywood film or Western TV show you can't pick up on most street corners in China, burnt onto a DVD for around $1.50. And if they don't have what you want, you can ask them, and they'll have it for you the next day.", ">\n\nI live in china. That was true. Over a decade ago.\nNow we pirate online like everyone else. You can buy accounts for western streaming services very cheaply.", ">\n\nGood to know. I lived in China 18 years ago.\nEdit: What's it like there with the COVID at the moment?", ">\n\nyou wouldn't download an army?", ">\n\nYou wouldn't download a dictator", ">\n\nLuka is bloatware incarnate.", ">\n\nBlyatware.", ">\n\nPerfection", ">\n\nJokes on them. Now it is legal to watch The Witcher: Blood Origin. That is a torture.", ">\n\nAnd all those crappy Russian propaganda movies from unfriendly Russia who's trying to use them as meat for their invasion of Ukraine.", ">\n\nBro can yall just fucking not? Doesn't matter what the fucking thread is about yall always need to bring up the fucking war. The world doesn't revolve around Russia and Ukraine.", ">\n\nWhat do you think this law is about?", ">\n\nLol ridiculous! as if they had ANY copyright legal enforcement there prior", ">\n\nYeah.. even in many western countries it has become really hard to enforce copyright infringements...\nHere in Norway there hasn't been any cases for years and I believe the last case was against someone who uploaded and seeded a movie that the uploader had put in his 'signature' so proving it was him was possible.\nI've never stopped using the bay of sea bandits and the likes and have gotten two or three letters from some lawyer company with a form they want me to sign so they could send me a bill for the equivalent of a couple of hundreds of dollars. Or else they would drag me to court!\nI obviously never responded and never heard from them again...\nBecause proving that it was me beyond reasonable doubt is virtually impossible without confiscating virtually all of my computer equipment and the police here has repeatedly stated that raiding and confiscating computer equipment worth hundreds to thousands times more than the fine and compensation to the movie company just isn't something they do...\nDownloading movies and shows have been defacto legal in Norway for the last decade.", ">\n\nThey should be less worried about piracy and more about pricing. If they set the right price, people will buy it.", ">\n\nIt's more about convenience for me. What I want to watch is scattered across way too many streaming sites.", ">\n\nI haven't pirated much in the last 10 years or so. the only reason is because it became as easy to buy as to pirate.\nthis hasn't been true for the last couple years. the only reason I haven't cancelled everything and gone back to piracy is because I'm too lazy to set stuff back up.", ">\n\nPiracy sites work basically like Netflix these days.", ">\n\ndo they have apps I can browse on my TV?", ">\n\nHook up a laptop to your TV and you can browse that way", ">\n\nBelarus: \"The West is our enemy and \"we\" stand against everything they've become!\"\nAlso Belarus: Let's Western culture flood into the country, free of charge.\nGood for deal if you ask me.", ">\n\nI'm not so sure about this. There is a LOT of evidence that well maintained legitimate access to content is preferable to piracy, look no farther than the rise of steam and netflix.\nLegalizing piracy will definitely lead to less legitimate services in Belarus and could lead to less consumption of western content overall.\nIt's also just a generally pretty reasonable way to implement sanctions as citizens get to keep most of the benefits of consuming western media while keeping the money that would normally flow out inside the country. Trade is really really good but getting free stuff is often better.", ">\n\nHow to lose the culture war in one easy step!", ">\n\nWon't this hurt any tax revenues the country would have gotten from the legal sale of these things?", ">\n\nYou think they are thinking?", ">\n\n\"Binge, comrades! Binge today, for tomorrow you're conscripted and the Donbass beckons!\"", ">\n\nepic", ">\n\n\npirated movies\n\nThe horror! The horror!\nTab back to what I was watching two seconds ago...", ">\n\nThat is probably the reaction of many young Belarussians right now", ">\n\njolly pirrrrrate sounds", ">\n\nCome on up and see me urchins. That’s quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard! Arrrrrr", ">\n\nAnd we'll download Belarussian shows as well, like.....errrr....uuuummmm....hmmmmm.", ">\n\nIn fairness there does exist at least some good Eastern European content. I’m fairly into Balkan film myself.", ">\n\nNoone would steal from potato land in return. Checkmate westoids. /s", ">\n\nWonder how Steven Seagal feels - the guy's a Putin stooge just like Lukashenko, but a significant portion of his market just got the greenlight to pirate the fuck out of his work.\nHow's he gonna afford second breakfast now?", ">\n\nAnd third and fourth... Not to mention pre lunch...", ">\n\nYou missed out elevenses. The Seagal will not be pleased.", ">\n\nI'm so sorry completely forgot his blood sugar levels... Yes of course. Thanks for reminding me 🙏", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading captain America.", ">\n\nBelarus starts downloading Team America.", ">\n\nTime to flood the market with anti russian everything, give them what they want...", ">\n\nWell I'm going to do the same with popular Belarus media then... oh wait... there is absolutely nothing in this catalogue I want to consume", ">\n\nI’m sure major studios are relying on Belarus and its economic might.", ">\n\nlet's punish the west by consuming even more western media. that'll teach them.", ">\n\nPfft like they were paying for any of that before", ">\n\nNothing new, just about everything in eastern Europe is pirated anyway.", ">\n\nWhat if The Pirate Bay was an actual place?", ">\n\nFinally, a show to compete with Oak Island.", ">\n\nA lot of people seem to have this idea that Belarus is like North Korea. If you go to Belarus and turn on the TV, you will find plenty of Hollywood movies dubbed in Russian, playing on many channels. They also have movie theaters playing the latest Hollywood films.", ">\n\n“Status of piracy in belarus unchanged”", ">\n\nWhat does this have to do with torrenting a movie? You can do that everywhere.", ">\n\nlol, so desperate for outside culture that they have to make a law reminding people that nobody outside of Belarus gives a shit about Belarus. \nI don't think this is the burn they think it is.", ">\n\nI'm sure they were strictly enforcing those laws before. /s", ">\n\nIf they are unfriendly, why the interest in the cultural creations?", ">\n\nWell if this isn't the definition of shooting oneself in the foot then I don't know what is", ">\n\nThey must have a Doctor Evil over there.", ">\n\nAnd around the world the studios begin shaking at the thought of a small percentage of the 9.4m population nicking their content and causing absolutely no issues", ">\n\nWhich countries, in this exact context, are listed as \"unfriendly\"?", ">\n\nMostly like the same list of unfriendly countries/territories published by Russia a few months back. Basically everyone with sanctions against them.", ">\n\nWhen you have absolutely no leverage at all in geopolitics, this is what you do, I guess..", ">\n\nThought they hated western culture. Sure seem desperate to keep it intertwined in their lives.", ">\n\nIn a tit for tat move the west runs to pirate all the nothing belarus has produced.", ">\n\nLol, they're just saying the quiet part out loud now, it changes nothing. Doesn't even have to be \"unfriendly countries\". As long as there's no direct financial incentive, nobody gives a shit about piracy. So, the US give a shit, because the produce everything. I'm in Portugal. I can pirate whatever the fuck I want, nobody is ever coming after me. Like my government is going to spend resources because American companies are not making money lol.", ">\n\n\"We don't like your country and your culture, but we still want some those Marvel movies\"", ">\n\nNext step, conscription by IP address", ">\n\nAs opposed to the steadfast enforcement of international copyright law that Belarus was known for up to this point...", ">\n\nAmateurs! In Brazil, we do it with friendly countries too!", ">\n\nThey openly hate western ideals and culture but passes a law so they can pirate western ideals and culture. No wonder these people support Putin, they’re morons.", ">\n\n….\nSwitches VPN location to Belarus", ">\n\nSo a return to the USSR, which didn't give a s about copyright and eagerly copied and pirated Western stuff. Well, Lukashenko and Putin *are big fans of Sovok (Russian depreciatory name for the Soviet Union), and Belarus continues a lot of Soviet-era policies, and even has a modified Soviet-era flag, so...", ">\n\nAdopting the imagery of a historic predecessor doesn't mean you follow the ideology. You don't think the UK's still an empire, do you?", ">\n\nAhem, do you actually know how Belarus works? He's literally recreated a mini-USSR within his country, both on political and economic level. It's more or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today.", ">\n\n\nMore or less how a USSR that survived the Perestroika would have looked like today\n\nI don't think you understand that Perestroika also included an economic aspect. It was a total opening up of the country. If the USSR had made it through the 90s it probably would've been a neoliberal satellite state of the US (kind of like a big, white Haiti), and obviously that hasn't happened in the case of either Belarus or Russia. Being a dictatorship ~~=~~ the USSR.\nDamn, this is the political capacity of the brightest minds on the internet lmao", ">\n\nExcept the Perestroika was a hodgepodge of different approaches meant only to ensure the USSR could better compete with Western countries, not to make it a free market democracy. It's precisely the economic reforms that lagged during the Perestroika, while a lot of political ones were made. A USSR that kept falling behind the West but continued its existence would have likely liberalized to a certain extent, but otherwise continued to be very heavy-handed and centralized, like China or probably Cuba.\nFact is, Belarus' economy is dominated by a few state companies and banks, like Belgospischeprom, Bellegprom, Belneftekhim, Beltransgaz, land use is strongly regulated, Internet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\nYou should know these things if you wanted to argue. But there's a book for that from Edward Lucas: Belarus, the Last European Dictatorship (2011, last edition from 2021).\nEDIT: Since TheManWhoFightsThe cowardly blocked me, here's my answer to his last comment below:\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here.\n\nNope, not really an oligarchy, if you actually read on Belarus, and especially since there isn't much in terms of fossil fuels to exploit. As for Russia, the FSB has been extorting and making life difficult for companies since at least the 2000s, Yukos was nationalized for spurious reasons in 2003, and in 2022 Russian government and Central Bank's response to the sanctions made its market even more unstable and less attractive for investors (hence why capital flight reached a 1994 high). It's only as \"free-market\" as the top dog in the Kremlin feels comfortable with. Russia is a sad mix of crony capitalism and chronic state harassment.\nAlso, Scandinavian countries and Israel have significantly freer economies and political systems, although Israel's record on human rights (given the circumstances) is still controversial at best. As for monopoly of violence, that's all states ever, from the earliest gangs to modern UN and NATO. The key is there's still a large variation of opportunity you have among different countries and organizations.\nAs for the US, although it does have the world's largest prison population, it's \"only\" the 6th highest rate in the world, and declining. Their number has more to do with crime in the streets and lack of police, rather than things like not being allowed to criticize the president, the government's policies or being stopped for running sober. THAT is a real police state. Also, US is weird in general. Has a very decentralized and polarized political system (just perfect for someone to dictate everyone!) and a highly free economy, but also authoritarian work environments and the need for an extensive worldwide military to ~~expand the reach of US companies~~ make up for the fact literally no other democratic country has wanted to pull their weight in light of the other authoritarian/totalitarian sharks swimming around the world.\nI like also how you ignored, aside from the obvious symbolic similarities with the USSR, how tightly state companies control the Belarus economy. It's not just a few key sectors like in European countries.\nEDIT 2: It was your choice to argue with me. I take your refusal to follow through and to block me as a win. Will be happy to learn from and enlighten other people.", ">\n\n\nInternet is tightly controlled, there's an extensive police state, any private companies that exist have to play by Lukashenko's rules, you have to ask for permission to open a bank account in a different country, etc.\n\nSoooooo an oligarchy? lol. The same thing goes on in Russia with Gazprom and Rusal. No one's gonna call Russia a new USSR just because the intersection of state preference combined with personal control is so tight.. Well, maybe some here. State ownership of natural monopolies (Aramco in Saudi Arabia, booze in Scandinavia, etc.) is not uncommon. Saudi Arabia's a dictatorship in all but name. Is MBS the new Stalin?\nBtw, internet censorship isn't exclusively in the realm of single market economies. Israel actively removes footage of Palestinians being shot by occupying forces, and much like China, they don't hide the fact that they have a monopoly on violence. \n\"Extensive police state\" lmfao what does that even mean. The US has the world's largest prison population and cops disproportionately targets Black and Latino people. We've got one too.\nlmao cowardly. Like we're 16th century Englishmen getting ready to duel. Nah man, I don't have the energy to argue with petty bastards like you all day. You'll stay blocked.", ">\n\nWhat a great day for botnet, spyware, malware, and intelligence agencies!", ">\n\nYes. This immediately made me think of stuxnet.", ">\n\nThat will teach them! Nothing like encouraging your repressed population to freely watch the culture of a free population to suppress descent.", ">\n\nBecause they are too stupid to make their own..", ">\n\nPreparations for mobilization.", ">\n\nI mean, doesn't that just increase cultural exchange? It's not like we think our entertainment companies deserve all their profits here in the West anyway. Not very upsetting.", ">\n\nOh no. What will all the western producers do now without the belarussian markets?", ">\n\n\"Additionally, later today, I will be tweeting my own personal Netflix password, far all to use!!\"", ">\n\nI guarantee there will be a centralised souce with collection of pirated software that contains malware from Russian government to spy on citizens.", ">\n\nA great way to ensure that's the only way to get any of those things ever again", ">\n\nOkay? It's not like anti piracy laws were enforced there or anything.\nSad that they don't even realize how bad this posturing makes them look.", ">\n\nLike legalizing them will make any difference. Pirated moving are more or less official in places like that anyway.", ">\n\nI have a hard time believing any piracy laws were ever enforced", ">\n\nThis just give pirating streaming services a free place to operate without fear of reprisal. Or having to devolve it’s client list. This is HUGE globally.", ">\n\nThat’s probably going to bite them in the ass, giving people access to the Western world lol", ">\n\nHehehe. You wanna play this game. I'll Don my hat and sail the Belarusian seas for IPs to pillage yarharhar", ">\n\nThey can pirate Adam Sandler’s “Jack and Jill” but that’s my final offer -Biden", ">\n\nNothing new. Russia, China and other countries have been doing this years and years!", ">\n\nYeah, sanctions works both ways...", ">\n\noh no whatever will we do without all those belarus sales", ">\n\nAnd for my next evil move, I will make all western media FREE, depriving the west of our valuable currency, ensuring our citizens consume endless uncensored western media until... oh, wait... crap.", ">\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?", ">\n\n\nIsn't this absolutely awful for foreign investment, specially when it comes to entertainment ventures?\n\nYep. This is one of the few, universal ways to trigger the Zimbabwe effect on your own nation. Then again, a lot of us are expecting they'll be swallowed up by Russia as a consolation prize if/when Ukraine becomes completely untenable.", ">\n\nHate unfriendly countries so much they want their stuff", ">\n\nBelarus is less an independent country and more an armpit of Russia.", ">\n\nI've already legalized it from all countries.", ">\n\nHeartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point", ">\n\nI work in content security. Challenge accepted", ">\n\nIronic considering that just a couple of months back the state-owned \"BelarusFilm\" was trying to censor a showing in Scotland of the film \"Kupała\" via their ownership of the copyright, something they've apparently tried to exploit elsewhere.", ">\n\nFuture smash tournaments to be hosted in Belarus. It's the only way they can actually get a proper tournament without Nintendo shutting it down \nWho am I kidding. Nintendo will still manage to successfully shut it down", ">\n\nNOOOOO!!! Please don't hurt our beloved music and movie industries....they are struggling to survive as is!!! /s", ">\n\nA country can do a lot of things to America… (like providing a “staging area” to invade an ally)… but corporations are the power behind America and if Belarus starts ripping them off… 💩 is gonna get serious.", ">\n\nOooo, they're playing hardball now! Lol", ">\n\nThe only country where movies theaters can make money now", ">\n\nOh, that's REAL mature, Belarus. Guess what.... You're no longer invited to my birthday party.", ">\n\nNO PLEASE NO HOLY FUCK PLEASE JESUS DO SOMETHING THIS CANT BE HAPPENING", ">\n\nmaybe in retaliation we'll allow pirating of all that sweet belarusian content...", ">\n\nGreat opportunity to sneak some malware into their machines.... Hell, even help distribute it via torrents they're known to use.", ">\n\nAs retaliation goes, this is as week as the sauce can get...", ">\n\nSo they volunteer to ingest \"wEsTErN ProPAGanDa\"? If it's that bad, why not hunt people who watch it with police and army?\nSeriously, I always laugh at this stuff. Moaning and whining about west and saying it's the devil, and then continuing to just watching the stuff anyway, just refusing to pay for it.", ">\n\nThat's okay, we know you really love our culture while claiming to hate it over your bowl of gruel and the sounds of security forces ruling your life. \nWe will be ready to accept you onto the world stage when you put on your big boy pants, remove your dictator, and gain some self respect and self determination.", ">\n\nlol lukashenko. it's weirdly fascinating just watching him. he takes passive-aggressive into just an entire different realm.", ">\n\nWith how behind these countries are, they’ll probably pirate R Kelly", ">\n\nTo be fair, I do wish more countries would do this. Break big companies monopolies on \"their\" IP.", ">\n\nI have no problem with this. Oh, I mean\n\nYoU wOuLdN't DoWnLoAd A cAr", ">\n\nImagine if downloading a car literally just created a new one for you without affecting the original car in any way (aside from it's market value due to the supply increasing). \nThat would be the correct analogy.", ">\n\nI am sure nobody will put backdoors if the IP is from Belarus or Russia", ">\n\nThe Swifties are gone lose their absolute shit!^/s", ">\n\nEhhhhh let's go new season of dragonsssss", ">\n\nA Russian puppet state legalising the practice of something they already do at a state-sponsored level with the faintest shred of plausible deniability is hilariously in keeping with all these Baghdad Bob moments the Russians are having during the war that they started that they are losing. \nFrom a source on the ground!\nOverheard at the heavily fortified command center denying bombs were falling while literal bombs were falling near him and denying the presence of Ukranian armored units when \nliteral tanks were in the literal streets visible over his shoulder just outside the window, General Medvedev expressed defiance and laughed at the the new piracy laws before being urgently escorted from the shaking room as explosions sounded outside.", ">\n\nOh no! Hollywood will now go bankrupt!", ">\n\nBread and circuses. Distract the people while war commences...", ">\n\nThat'll teach em!", ">\n\nSadly there is nothing worth pirating from that country...", ">\n\nThat’ll show us!", ">\n\nI hope they have good anti virus software in Belarus", ">\n\nThat is like cultural shoot in the foot. \nSoon B will be part of E.", ">\n\nThe Law of Unintended Consequences proposes that Luca will soon regret his decision!!", ">\n\nSo it means we all can pirate shit from belarus legally!\nAny good stuff?", ">\n\nWhen can we legalize invasion of Belarus ?", ">\n\nOh shit and now he pisses off capitalism? You know that asshole doesn't take this kinda thing lying down.", ">\n\nCracked software sounds totally safe and not virus-laden to me.", ">\n\nWell we know where all the new piratebays and streaming sites are gonna set up shop", ">\n\nall that for western imagination on the screen and headphones.\nbabushkas and mustaches never made it big in hollywood after all.", ">\n\nIf China can copy everything... why not", ">\n\nAnd they pirated THAT idea from China. Look how long it took them. Stupid. Then they had to TALK. Stupid, stupid.", ">\n\nOK we surrender!", ">\n\nHey here’s something you don’t have to pirate Belarus: Voice of America or Radio Free Europe", ">\n\nNice honeypot.", ">\n\nLol, cant wait for them to get hacked to pieces because of torrents. This might be the first country taken out because of piracy ahahahaha", ">\n\nOk setting VPN to Belarus in 3, 2, 1…", ">\n\nI wonder if there's any Usenet servers that operate out of Belarus.", ">\n\nWelp. I guess Microsoft won’t make any money from Microsoft Windows Democracy Edition…", ">\n\nBelarus doing anything won't even tickle the US probably.", ">\n\nLol. Were they enforcing these piracy laws prior to this? Something tells me no…", ">\n\nIt would be much better for everyone if Belarus banned commercial software from \"unfriendly nations\" and demanded mandatory use of open-source software.", ">\n\nDoesn't seem like many neurons are firing in that part of Europe. Did Belarus get rid of all their talent as well?", ">\n\nWish you could've seen how their TV looked like after much of the talent fled the public stations. Some news segments seriously looked like lazily made PowerPoint presentations!", ">\n\nBelarrus.", ">\n\nWell then, that sure showed us… /s", ">\n\nThe world should reciprocate and pirate all of Belarussia’s artworks, as soon as they create something that anyone would want.", ">\n\nAbsorb that western ”propaganda”", ">\n\nBelarus is going down like Russia.....is it all worth it Luka?", ">\n\nWe'll do the same!\nOh wait -- Belarus creates nothing of interest :/", ">\n\nThe rest of the world: Internet piracy\nBelarus: Online privateering", ">\n\njugoslavija did the same during nato bombing in ‘99. we saw matrix on a regular tv station, while it was still in theaters", ">\n\nAnd when they start pirating Pro-Democracy/Anti-Russia movies?", ">\n\nROW: Sets VPN to Belarus", ">\n\nCareful... ..you will find yourself on the wrong side of the frontlines.", ">\n\nTime for Hollywood to fight the culture war fellas\nThis should be fun lmao", ">\n\nThey couldn’t afford it to start off.", ">\n\nNo doubt a severe blow to their domestic entertainment industry.", ">\n\nI'm in the United States. That's not legal?", ">\n\nOkay. Enjoy being westernised free of charge?", ">\n\nFree speech. But not that kind.", ">\n\nY'all acting as if it wasn't \"legal\" before. Piract isn't really punished in easter europe...", ">\n\nUnited States rolls up sleeves: “Here hold my TRIPS, Belarus is in need of some freedom”.", ">\n\nDoes that include Russian films? They’re being pretty unfriendly right now, even to Belarus as the looks of things", ">\n\nTime to disable windows and western software in Belarus.", ">\n\nSerious question, but is there any noteworthy Belarusian movies/music?\nI mean, the leader is a putz, but I'm assuming the people are still people capable of producing artwork. I just can't think of any \"big Belarusian artworks\"", ">\n\nLot of handwringing from a bunch of suckers in this thread", ">\n\nFor Belarus, that's pretty boss. BEL ARRR! RUS PIRATE NATION! ARRR!", ">\n\nBelarusians ; download the movie \"Red Dawn\" and take a few notes \nWe honestly don't mind", ">\n\nKiss your Olympic teams goodbye.", ">\n\ngotta get your groove on", ">\n\nThis is being overanalyzed.\nLukashenko had his username blocked by pornhub.\n/s", ">\n\nWell then we’ll just do the same thing with all those great Belarusian movies and music songs!!!", ">\n\nWasn't piracy allowed anywhere that wasn't the us Canada or western Europe? Xd", ">\n\nMess with the Mouse, get the horns", ">\n\nSo business as usual, got it.", ">\n\nVPN and VPS providers love this news.", ">\n\nSo, basically a digital letter of marque.", ">\n\nSo does this mean VPNs in Belarus will suddenly be big business?", ">\n\nWell the thing about piracy is that nobody pirating things cares if they have permission.", ">\n\nI want to download a Belorussian car.", ">\n\nThey also legalized killing anyone who bad-mouths its president... so shove those laws up your arse!", ">\n\nI see some new websites popping out of belarus", ">\n\nConsuming more western media; not sure that Lukashenko really thought this one through. surprised Pikachu face", ">\n\nThey love Western culture, yet seethe in their own self-loathing. Pathetic wretches.", ">\n\nNever interrupt your enemy when their making mistakes.", ">\n\n*there", ">\n\nStop interrupting me!", ">\n\nAny decent VPN having servers there? Asking for a matey...", ">\n\nLucky bastards.", ">\n\nLike they cared about pirated movies, music and software before?", ">\n\nAs if China hadn't already been doing this for years.", ">\n\nas if belarus haven't been doing this for years lol", ">\n\nNone of those people give a rats ass about copyright infringement.", ">\n\nHaha so it wasn’t legal before? You can literally download anything straight from their version of Facebook? Movies, music, whatever…", ">\n\nBelarusians can finally watch Shrek 3", ">\n\nw", ">\n\nBreaking news :Kim Dotcom moves from NZ to Belarus", ">\n\nNothing says 'sanction me harder, daddy' as much as this.", ">\n\nThat'll show em", ">\n\nLove my Pirate Bay. Been using it for many years now. Sometimes it's difficult to log on but eventually get it done Most of my videos music and ebooks are off there.", ">\n\nInvite us in, yes pls install the back doors ." ]