Thread: Piracy Ethics

All I can say is that, do what you think is right...but because of the overwhelming contents made available through torrent sites and P2P clients, people can't resist to get them. That shows, morality and ethics no longer play a role in it...it's long forgotten...

Originally Posted by pugpugpug

Personally I only download things I wouldn't buy anyways. For instance, I download TV shows because I don't pay for cable. Even if I didn't torrent I still wouldn't pay for cable because I'm that cheap so its not like I'm really ripping anyone off. It's convoluted, but it's now I sleep at night.

I thought my middle name was cheap...but, damn he's beaten me. HAHA! :laugh:

I download movies that I don't want to watch in the theater but, alot of time end up at the theater anyway.

I download music because its available. Games to try. I have bought a few lately because the dev's really deserved my money.

I download a very small amount of appz.

As far as ethics go: I feel as though if the devs or artist deserves it then maybe it wouldn't be so bad to fork out a few dollars for the retail version of whatever you downloaded.

[QUOTE=flutrose;448323]
If I download something and like it enough to add to my permanent collection I buy a retail copy of it. While I may not like supporting companies I do firmly believe in supporting the creative artists. If I download something and don't want a copy of it then ultimately it ends up in the trash bin. QUOTE]

Thats exactly how most people are. For the most part me too, you wouldnt believe how many movies, apps, albums are complete crap and if it wasnt for them being free online I would have never touched them anyway. They got deleted too lol

I really like this thread. It is thought provoking and provides an entertaining read.

When it comes to movies or music, I never purchase anything I pirate. The only music I purchase are obscure things I can't find a torrent for. However, I don't actually download a lot of music anymore, as I prefer Pandora and similar services. I think a lot of you younger people will find your music listening habits change dramatically once you get married, have kids and need to work your rear-end off to support them. I just don't have time to spend hours on personal playlists anymore.

I primarily download Movies & TV episodes. The irony is that I would actually be willing to purchase these if they were offered as digital downloads, completely DRM-Free and priced around $5 for movies and $1 for TV episodes. I am not proud of myself or think I'm cool because I download movies for free - but I do think the industry is stupid for not updating their business model to make their content more affordable and accessible. Take DVDs for example. They scratch and are way too fragile to be used long term when you have kids regularly handling them. We invested in dozens of kiddy movies & programming with our first child - none of which were playable after a couple of years of use. By the time our second child came around - I swore off DVDs entirely and just stream everything from my home server using softmodded xboxes with XBMC installed. Before torrents, I used netflix and just ripped what I wanted.

And don't get me started on DRM. If I cannot play a purchased music or video file on whatever I device I want to...I refuse to pay for it. Neither of these points make what I'm doing ok...but it does annoy me enough to allow me to feel less guilt.

As for software, I only pirate what I use and cannot afford. Despite what other people have said, I HAVE purchased a few cheaper applications after trying out a pirated version first. Examples would be UltraMon and DVDFab Platinum. Both I initially pirated, but now have purchased licenses for. My general rule is that if it is something I use very regularly and costs less than $40, I will usually purchase it eventually. Not because I'm a saint and am necessarily trying to do the right thing (though I do feel good about it) - but because time is very limited in my life and it is a pain to always find/download/patch/crack updated versions of cheaper software I use and rely on daily.

The only thing I take a truly 'ethical' stance on is ebooks. I'm an avid sci-fi/fantasy reader. Although I pirate ebooks for just about everything I read, I will almost always purchase something I've pirated if I really liked the book and the author is relatively new on the scene. I do it because I have a lot of respect people who can write a good story. If it is an older book and/or the author has already made millions, I don't bother because I see it as no different than going to the library and checking out a book for free.

Another thing I think needs to be considered is that ethics concerning pirating varies dramatically depending on the peer demographic. Teenagers, people in their early 20's or those without families to support will often have a different perspective than an older crowd or those with kids. You may think risk is the same no matter what your age or situation - but I completely disagree. I was far more bold, reckless and cocky about p2p before I got married and had kids. Now, I'm a lot more paranoid and careful because it isn't just myself on the line. I think I also just have a deeper appreciation for the value of time (probably because I have so little of it myself). If someone creates a really useful application that makes my life easier, then I'll often pay for it or donate if I can. I feel more strongly about this when it comes to independent developers as opposed to huge corporations.

Ultimately, I know pirating copyrighted material is wrong, but I still do it. I know that I would pirate less if media were cheaper and offered in an open digital format - but I'm sure the process to do that is more complicated than I'm imagining. I don't make a point of pirating just because I can, but I don't judge those who do, as I did the same thing when I was younger. I also donate small amounts when I can because I am grateful to people or services that save me time or positively impact my life.

This ended up being much longer than I intended. Sorry to have gone on and on... :)

Being a software engineer; I purchase anything that I can't code.

This is a very good topic which you can look on on different sides.

First off all, where would we be when Piracy wouldn't ever have existed. Then a lot of goods would have been available only for the elite (read the ones who can afford it). We, as a consumer, would have been on the mercy of the big corp's when they would finally bring out a new and updated version. We would only e able to buy what the corporation wanted and in turn they would be the only one making good profits.

It is just because piracy has existed throughout history that we are standing where we are today! If you take a product. If it is music, movie, a table or whatever, and you take the concept and add your personal view on it then you are developping a product.

Also because off piracy the people have more oppertunities to obtain, try, experience new products that they otherwise would have never experienced or would not have been able to afford. Take a look at Disney for example. They made a whole lot of movies like cinderella, pinokkio, mickey the mouse, and this is all the work of piracy from their side. They took the idea of other people made into their own (and better) but now they are the nr1 protector of their own brand.

Personally I love piracy because it enables me to see movies that otherwise would have not been available to me (alternative independent movies). And If it was not available to me I would have been smuthered to watch/hear the big corp's stuff that they want to force upon us.

If I see a band playing and I like their music, I buy their stuff! Just Because I liked it. The same goes for software and movies. Unfortunatly, Some software is just so ******* expensive I cannot buy it. But If I would start making money because of the illegal things I buy I would purchase the software to show my appreciation for this product making it all happen.

And remember one last thing. If I have 100 dollars/euros in my hand, I need to buy food, drinks, telephone calls, subscriptions with it and a little bit of saving. Piracy enables you to get more items for free but is it really so that if nobody would download movies/music anymore that the corp's would make the same amount of money as 20 years ago? I do not think so. we now have a lot of other costs also.

Very good thread with a lot of different aspects on this.

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double post