Thread: Do you ever feel guilty for "stealing intellectual property"?

I know this isn't a question that pops into the minds of most torrenters, but have you ever stopped to think?

One side of me feels for the copyright holders - if I were the one that was putting my blood, sweat, and tears into making a music album or a film or a game, I'd livid that people were just putting it up for grabs for nothing in return. All my hard work would have been for nothing for those people.



But the other side of me - the side I find showing itself more and more often - justifies it. More copyright holders than ever are actually PRAISING bittorrent for its potential for market growth, calling it "the new radio." It gets their material out, so I see how this could be potentially HELPFUL, especially for indie artists who are struggling to get their names into the community. For this reason a lot of artists and producers don't even care that their material is being pirated, but corporations like the MPAA and RIAA are just copyright-trolling and filing ridiculous lawsuits on unsuspecting torrenters.

The other thing in my opinion, mainly for software, is that a professional quality production/editing program of any kind is not at all affordable for the casual hobbyist/prosumer. Software like Photoshop, Pro Tools, and Final Cut Pro are practically the industry standard, and due to their price they intimidate a lot of potential customers. Anyone that wants to learn how to edit videos can only go so far using Windows Movie Maker, and if they can't afford professional quality software that's all they'll ever get exposed to. As long as whoever's using the software isn't profiting and is just using it for personal/educational reasons I think it's acceptable. The professionsals who do this stuff for a living are the ones who should have to pay for a $2000 piece of software in my book.

But that's just my two cents. What are your guys' opinions on piracy? Do you ever feel guilty for everything we stand for?

I think the problem with your question is that people aren't "stealing", they're sharing. It's a brave new world, and we now demand content in electronic form, which is easily shareable. The old paradigm of making money on the sale of individual plastic discs no longer applies. Monetizing has to be done differently. There are already other models that have been quite successful, such as selling individual songs in e-form or on-line game play subscriptions.

No one is telling companies that they shouldn't make money off of their effort, but we are telling them that they can not make money the way that they have in the past. It's that simple. Out with the old model and in with the new.

Originally Posted by s2cuts

I think the problem with your question is that people aren't "stealing", they're sharing. It's a brave new world, and we now demand content in electronic form, which is easily shareable. The old paradigm of making money on the sale of individual plastic discs no longer applies. Monetizing has to be done differently. There are already other models that have been quite successful, such as selling individual songs in e-form or on-line game play subscriptions.

No one is telling companies that they shouldn't make money off of their effort, but we are telling them that they can not make money the way that they have in the past. It's that simple. Out with the old model and in with the new.

The title of the post wasn't meant to affirm the philosophy that we are "stealing" things, but to question the general public and copyright holders' view of our actions. I can see your point that the old model of business no longer applies, however I somewhat disagree because the same basic principle applies. I read a post in another thread the other day which mentioned that years ago we recorded TV shows and movies to VHS. The philosophy remains the same, the media has changed. But people are still "stealing" or "sharing" or "copying" or whatever you want to call it. I'm curious what others' opinions are on this issue.

Originally Posted by atmosfear2012

The title of the post wasn't meant to affirm the philosophy that we are "stealing" things, but to question the general public and copyright holders' view of our actions. I can see your point that the old model of business no longer applies, however I somewhat disagree because the same basic principle applies. I read a post in another thread the other day which mentioned that years ago we recorded TV shows and movies to VHS. The philosophy remains the same, the media has changed. But people are still "stealing" or "sharing" or "copying" or whatever you want to call it. I'm curious what others' opinions are on this issue.

But you're still equating "stealing" with "sharing". The whole point of my post was to explain that sharing, not stealing, is the reality of today, and that entrepreneurial businesses should look for other ways to monetize their effort, because the old one no longer applies. If you keep using the word "stealing" you are simply reinforcing the tactics of these old dinosaurs that don't want to change.

So really, to your initial question, I'm making the point that there's nothing to feel "guilty" about, because we're not stealing. The internet is not going anywhere, and P2P is not going anywhere. IMO, calling this theft is incorrect and leading. If you were to phrase the poll question, "Do you ever feel guilty for sharing files online", I would surmise that you would get a completely different poll result. So I think it's fair to point out the issue with how the question is framed. It's not a personal attack or anything like that.

Nice 4th option there.

I personally have never had a problem with it. I've never stolen anything in my life except one time a bag of chips (SHHHH DON'T TELL). It never felt like stealing to me. Even when i was maybe 8 years old and I got a playstation I eventually got into looking up ways to get games for free (getting a mod chip and burning the cds). It was always just in my nature to look for a free way to get something already available. Typically I don't talk about it with anyone who isn't a close friend or family because people have different reactions. Being a computer science major others in my major often have a negative idea about it, if we're making the software we shouldn't pirate software or games. Well people can go screw themselves because if I could I certainly would download a car.