@macantony:
MrMazda is correct. Enforcement is a BIG issue. I am from the USA, but I live in Mexico now. Back home in the USA internet access is already very restricted.. and the average user doesn't even realize it. In Mexico I can access many sites and download/upload material that I simply cannot even access in the USA. In Mexico, I can buy copies of movies (or almost anything), and somtimes, movies not even released yet. In the marketplace is not uncommon to hear people ask "Is this a copy?" Given what I have just said - Mexcio has similair laws protecting copyrights and infringement that the USA has. The difference? ENFORCEMENT.
I somewhat disagree with this; although it is true that the US enforces its IP laws more often, the "difference" is far more complex. That said, it is not difficult to find physical DVDs with copied movies for sale in the US if you know where to look. That said, it should be noted that Mexico has less developed infrastructure and fewer people have access to the internet in a capacity that would allow them to transfer large amounts of data; thus there is greater demand for physical media than in the United States.
The same woman has been selling pirated DVDs on various subway trains in New York City for at least 4 years; probably longer. It wouldn't be that hard to catch her, the police just have better things to do with their time.
As for the internet being "restricted" in the US, I'm not sure what you're talking about– I've yet to fail to find something that I wanted to download, excepting exceedingly rare things that often aren't even available legally licensed, either. Any site that uses geoblocking is easily averted through the use of proxies and querying foreign DNS servers if they are blocked that way locally.
All in all, it's clear that the "pirates" will eventually win in the end-- no matter what is done by governments and companies to control things, people will always find a way around them. A good example of this is the proverbial Great Firewall of China. Despite the entire internet infrastructure being subject to government control and censorship, people are able to punch through. The governments of the world aren't even able to stop people from counterfeiting money, doing drugs or murdering people-- what makes people think they will truly be able to stop people from copying media? At a base level, no matter how much is done, the basic fact that movies are visual media means that someone can sit there with a video camera and record a screen, and use a microphone for audio. Of course, such copies would suck, but if it comes to that, people will (and already do, for example, recording in movie theaters to release before DVDs).
