Is piracy immoral or just plain repugnant?

[Ottonomous]

You are stealing the blood and sweat of human beings shackled to keyboards

This topic locked to protect the guilty . . . from themselves.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[Sgt. York]

Repugnant is in the eyes of the beholder and morality changes daily.

 

[Ottonomous]

Repugnant is in the eyes of the beholder and morality changes daily.

Yes morality is a human abstraction and there is no objective right and wrong

But is it immoral in your eyes? Tantamount to theft? Or a necessary evil?

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I've written about the following story before. I had downloaded from usenet a stripped down version of Windows XP. I had someone on my vanpool at the time ask for a copy. She worked for a software company and there was a guy on the van that also worked in the same company. He lambasted her on the van about software theft as they both worked for a software company. This same guy the next day went on about several movies he watched over the weekend that he borrowed from a friend that rented the movies. So, he skirted the rental/purchase system to see the movies in his own home. His moral system was broke, IMO. It all comes down to personal experiences and beliefs. Even though unpaid viewing was illegal according to the Feds and IP holder of the movies, he seemed to think it wasn't illegal.

I think when I engaged him on his views between the software theft of his fellow coworker and his theft by deliberately skirting the DVD rental/purchase system he couldn't see the that the two were equivalent. I tried the analogy that he skirted the ticket system and got in the back door of the local cinema just to get a free viewing. Everyone looked at him like he was broken upstairs.

 

[Captante]

Why I'm simply mortified at the mere implication that anyone here would either participate in or advocate for piracy most foul!

 

[IronWing]

It depends. Does the creator get the money? Or is it a case where a corporation bribed Congress to extend the copyright long after the creator was dead? Creators getting paid for their work, great. Folks rent gathering on hundred year old art created by someone else? F'em.

 

[renz20003]

Does it count as piracy if I got it from the internet archive?

 

[brianmanahan]

lemme guess

you never paid for winrar, have gotten the popup for 17 years, and feel overwhelmed by guilt

 

[Ottonomous]

lemme guess

you never paid for winrar, have gotten the popup for 17 years, and feel overwhelmed by guilt

I have over 50 pirated games on my HDD. About 80 movies. And 40 shows.

I've had enough of this criminal lifestyle. I also live in the axis of evil so I am not supposed to have a lot of software or netflix too. Even AMD/nvidia drivers have to come from a third party like TPU.

The FTC has asked us to forward your personal details.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[Aikouka]

I've written about the following story before. I had downloaded from usenet a stripped down version of Windows XP. I had someone on my vanpool at the time ask for a copy. She worked for a software company and there was a guy on the van that also worked in the same company. He lambasted her on the van about software theft as they both worked for a software company. This same guy the next day went on about several movies he watched over the weekend that he borrowed from a friend that rented the movies. So, he skirted the rental/purchase system to see the movies in his own home. His moral system was broke, IMO. It all comes down to personal experiences and beliefs. Even though unpaid viewing was illegal according to the Feds and IP holder of the movies, he seemed to think it wasn't illegal.

I think when I engaged him on his views between the software theft of his fellow coworker and his theft by deliberately skirting the DVD rental/purchase system he couldn't see the that the two were equivalent. I tried the analogy that he skirted the ticket system and got in the back door of the local cinema just to get a free viewing. Everyone looked at him like he was broken upstairs.

I feel like this one is a bit different in a sense, because people see the movie studio as having received their cut from the rental store. On the flip side, it's the video store that is losing money. However, what about if the guy watched the movie at the original renter's house? Would that have been okay? What if the original renter wasn't there?

 

[Paladin3]

Media piracy, $20M a movie for DiCaprio or the $6 bottle of water in a theater. Which is the bigger sin? Neither is especially noble, but people will do whatever they can get away with to earn/save a buck. We've all got a grift.

 

[Sonikku]

I added nearly every SNES game worth owning to my Super Famicom mini and feel no guilt. I owned nearly all of them in cartridge format anyway.

 

[lxskllr]

I wish I got paid forever for the work I did. If I got .5¢ every time someone used my work, I'd be the richest person here. Probably richer than the rest of you put together.

 

[Mai72]

People still pirate? I haven't heard about piracy since the mid 2000s, when the entertainment companies were going after pirates, and people downloading large music/movie files.

Side Note: When I was teaching in South Korea I would see dvd knockoffs everywhere. Same in Thailand.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I feel like this one is a bit different in a sense, because people see the movie studio as having received their cut from the rental store. On the flip side, it's the video store that is losing money. However, what about if the guy watched the movie at the original renter's house? Would that have been okay? What if the original renter wasn't there?

However nothing! It was a clear case in which he skirted the rental/purchase system. Just ask the rental company and the movie studios.

 

[brianmanahan]

I wish I got paid forever for the work I did. If I got .5¢ every time someone used my work, I'd be the richest person here. Probably richer than the rest of you put together.

ATOT posts don't count as work

 

[lxskllr]

ATOT posts don't count as work

My posts are the best value going! You get *exactly* what you paid for every time.