Does the hunt on piracy piss off anyone else here?

[Bikeage]

Piracy does have some intangible benefits for the property owners. There have been many bands that I would not have listened to otherwise, making me more likely to purchase their music or merchandise, or see them live.

There's been ALOT of music that i've downloaded that I have physically owned in the past thats been lost or misplaced. Why should I pay for it again when it's available for free?

As far as movies go, I tend to get on a genre kick, and usually downloading a few films moves me to seek out similar or the same ones on DVD or VHS, so in that way piracy actually motivates sales.

I don't have a problem with the authorities cracking down on people who download hundreds of gigs per month of media that is currently on the market... but i'd be pissed if I got in trouble for seeding a torrent for a long out of print album or movie.

[Dylan]

Piracy does have some intangible benefits for the property owners. There have been many bands that I would not have listened to otherwise, making me more likely to purchase their music or merchandise, or see them live.

There's been ALOT of music that i've downloaded that I have physically owned in the past thats been lost or misplaced. Why should I pay for it again when it's available for free?

As far as movies go, I tend to get on a genre kick, and usually downloading a few films moves me to seek out similar or the same ones on DVD or VHS, so in that way piracy actually motivates sales.

I don't have a problem with the authorities cracking down on people who download hundreds of gigs per month of media that is currently on the market... but i'd be pissed if I got in trouble for seeding a torrent for a long out of print album or movie.

Eh, I think that it's reasonable to say that piracy harms property owners considerably more than it will ever help them.

[Haoie]

Last I heard: Less pirates mean more global warming!

[Mr.White555]

If only we had real swashbuckling pirates invading corporations for their intellectual property. Wouldn't that be a sight?

[elvis]

piracy is stealing, by legal definition.

Could you please show me where that law is defined?

[darthmunky]

Nothing should be illegal to download. That is all I have to say and I will always stand by my decision.

[deathclaw]

Jp1, you are incapable of having a grown-up discussion, next time try to answer my reasonings instead of ignoring them and complaining about me answering your "points".


Stealing from the rich isn't good, no matter how many poor people there are out there. Why should copyright infringment be any different? You are causing harm and damaging the economy with your selfish acts.

Is it fine to prevent a rich man to win the money he deserves because he had already a good amount of money? No. And if the world worked that way we wouldn't have rich people, but we wouldn't have the benefits of rich people neither.

I'm perfectly capable of having a "grown-up" discussion. I do it all the time. You are the one that acted like an asshole. I don't actually pirate anything that can still be purchased so my "selfish acts" aren't doing anything. Because I think that the punishments and efforts are overblown doesn't mean I think it is ok to steal from anyone. I don't feel sorry for rich people it doesn't mean I think they deserve to be robbed. Luckily, they have people like you to defend their honor. It's an important cause and I'm glad you support it.

I would have gladly "answered your reasonings" had you made any. You simply quoted selected lines from my post and made smart ass comments about them while ignoring the parts that didn't serve your purpose.

Even if you pirate something that is no longer available to sale, your "selfish acts" are selfish acts and you may harm somebody. All those games, that had not been available to purchase for years were pirated...and now many of them are available to purchase for really low prices on Steam, GoG, Live, PSN, Virtual Console....but many people, that would otherwise buy some of them, are no longer willing to pay a dime for them, because they had already pirated them.

[deathclaw]

Nothing should be illegal to download. That is all I have to say and I will always stand by my decision.

What a great argument, now you convinced me.

[Incognito D]

It can feel bad when a really niche, fun and original game is pirated becuase the developer receives no money for the game, but what about buying pre-owned? This can have much the same effect. For example, No More Heroes is one of my favourite Wii games but Grasshopper have received a grand total of £0 from me because I bought it pre-owned for £20. If I'd not been able to do that, it would have meant one more full price sale for the game. Another interesting question is, if I can pirate a DS game or buy it pre-owned for £10, what should I do? If I buy it preowned the developer won't get any money anyway...

[Limewater]

It can feel bad when a really niche, fun and original game is pirated becuase the developer receives no money for the game, but what about buying pre-owned?

If anything, the last couple of years has shown us that high sales of a used, out-of-print game can lead to reprints or release as a downloadable title. So buying used can support the developer, even if it does not always.

Another interesting question is, if I can pirate a DS game or buy it pre-owned for £10, what should I do? If I buy it preowned the developer won't get any money anyway...

But there are people out there legally providing used games to you. Sure, they aren't the original developers, but used game sellers are providing a service. By downloading instead of buying used, you are denying these retailers sales and devaluing their products.

There are more people involved in these things than just the consumer and the content creator.