Ars Technica
“You wouldn’t steal a car” anti-piracy campaign may have used pirated fonts
Digging into archived site points to use of questionable text styling.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-campaign-may-have-used-pirated-fonts/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
“You wouldn’t steal a car” anti-piracy campaign may have used pirated fonts

Digging into archived site points to use of questionable text styling.

Ars Technica
Apr 27 at 11:18amBot Posts (testing)
Show threadMarijke LuttekesApr 27

@arstechnica If you want more hypocrisy:

The Dutch anti-piracy organization BREIN pirated a song years back when… I was young, oh damn.

It would play before movies and videos warning people not to pirate the media they were about to watch.

https://youtu.be/bfE7ojgFsO0

Get a Life - Ian Anderson (BAF/BREIN warning music)

YouTube
Show threadWesDymApr 27
@arstechnica Those ads ran everywhere at the time, and we mocked them. "I would absolutely download a car."
Show threadSaschaApr 27

@wesdym @arstechnica

we had a similar campaign in Germany, in Austria your us version was apparently translated.

We had a video in which a woman and her two children visit her husband, who is in prison for downloading pirated copies. Absolutely unrealistic and far too exaggerated.

"Pirates are punished with up to 5 years in prison." is the central message. Absolutely exaggerated, those who do it commercially are more likely to get it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6H4iv1iOOU

Raubkopierer-Gefängnis

YouTube
Show thread𝔱𝔯𝔷𝔶𝔤𝔩𝔬𝔴 Apr 27
@sam4000 @wesdym @arstechnica there was also this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdGKikTL2uU
Nur Original ist Legal

YouTube
Show threadWesDymApr 27
@trzyglow I worked for a very small record company at the time, and we realized that music pirating was actually good for us, not harmful. Many people were leery about buying something new to them, or unable to, but curious enough to listen. And SHARE. And that exposure and sharing boosted sales. We LOVED music pirates. It's really rights companies that hate pirates, because they don't understand how pirating is actually good for them.
Show threadSaschaApr 27

@wesdym @trzyglow

of course, it still has to be balanced.

Anyone who only uses drugs illegally and never spends money on legal consumption is not helping.

In any case, thanks for the insight. sounds really good.

Show threadℒӱḏɩę 6d ago
@wesdym @arstechnica I have sticker on my EV that says I downloaded it 😆
Show threadYves Abdallah LambertApr 27
@arstechnica in french, pirater des polices such an idea.
Show threadEowynApr 27
@ayl_ @arstechnica we all hate comic sans ms
Show threadErikApr 27
@arstechnica Never heard of this before though: “In Germany, where original publisher FontFont was headquartered, typefaces are protected for the first 10 years, then an additional 15 years if a rightsholder pays a fee, providing a total of 25 years of protection.”
Show threadstux⚡Apr 27
@arstechnica ah yes, just like the music they used
Show thread0xD7_Apr 27
@arstechnica didn’t think I’d ever find spam in the fediverse but here we are.
Show threadDavid Prz 🤘🥦💻📚Apr 27
@arstechnica oh the irony.
Show threadQuirky George 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇬🇧Apr 27
@arstechnica @altbot
Show threadAltbotApr 27

@arstechnica This bot has been asked to generate an alt text for your image by @Fizzfizzpopop. If you consent, you will grant altbot a one-time permission to process this specific post. All processing is done privately with no third-parties. Any and all content is deleted after processing.
The full privacy policy: https://github.com/micr0-dev/Altbot/blob/main/PRIVACY.md

Do you consent? Reply with 'Y' or 'Yes' to proceed.

Altbot/PRIVACY.md at main · micr0-dev/Altbot

Accessibility bot designed to enhance the Fediverse by generating alt-text descriptions for images, video, and audio. - micr0-dev/Altbot

GitHub
Show threadAndrew KayApr 27
@arstechnica Yes. The font was in fact from Just van Rossum, the youngest brother of Guido van Rossum of Python software development. The music was also pirated, as it had been sent globally against the intended audience of a local fair.
Show threadNazoApr 27

@arstechnica "May have?"

The font was in the PDF. It is a stolen font.

Apparently the song they used was also stolen?

Show threadJaden RubiscoApr 27
@arstechnica This made my day lol
Show threadJames T KellyApr 27
@arstechnica Wasn’t the music used without permission too?
Show threada fish named dog 🎗️Apr 27
@arstechnica pirated music, pirated fonts...if the fucking riaa is doing it, why not me?
Show threadziltiApr 27
@arstechnica
How does this blow up now? I mean, that's been known for at least half a decade.
Show threadRobert JamesApr 27
@arstechnica hey man that program may have done more to introduce ethical piracy than most anything the community did.