You can’t just run a cipher on a copyrighted work and say “it’s not the same, so I didn’t copy it”.
Yes I can. I can download a Web page, encrypt it on my machine, and I'm not distributing said work.
And “distributing” is separate from violating copyright. It’s not distriburight, it’s copyright. Copying a work without authorization for private use is still violating copyright.
You absolutely do not know what you're talking about. This is just trivial copyright law, but there's a weird internet mythology that if you can access something on the net you can take it as long as you don't share it further. The reason the mass-sharers tended to get prosecuted is because they were easier and more valuable targets, not because the people they were sharing it with weren't also breaking the law.
Yes I can. I can download a Web page, encrypt it on my machine, and I'm not distributing said work.
That's just false.
You absolutely do not know what you're talking about. This is just trivial copyright law, but there's a weird internet mythology that if you can access something on the net you can take it as long as you don't share it further. The reason the mass-sharers tended to get prosecuted is because they were easier and more valuable targets, not because the people they were sharing it with weren't also breaking the law.