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Do you pirate?

SwiftLives said:
So, I can come to your house and take your TV and computer? I was never going to buy them off of you, so you're not losing a potential sale.
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Are you serious?

I'm a pirate.

I justify it to myself and have no real reason to justify to anyone else. People break laws all the time with out repercussions and with out others getting all high and mighty on them why should piracy be any different?
 
I used to when i was at college. A few albums and a few windows games After i left and got a job i deleted the 20 or so albums that i had pirated and bought them all. Now i dont pirate at all. I much prefer the quality of a cd and Blu ray over pirate versions.
 
One of my friends loves to read. Where I get through half a book a month she gets through several a week! During lunch breaks, on train... everywhere!

So she got a Sony ereader (the touch one) about a year ago. She downloaded some classics from Project Gutenberg (great site- free ebooks for out of copyright novels and completely legal). Then she bought ONE ebook from a well-known UK retailer. Shortly afterwards she got a replacement ereader due to a fault. Project Gutenberg books were on the new reader within 5 minutes, the DRM-ridden book took me 2.5 hours to copy over for her! Sony's Mac support is rubbish, it wouldn't de-authorise the old ereader, wouldn't authorise the new one etc. From that point she has never purchased another ebook, all have been pirated just because of DRM. There are around 1000 books on her ereader now.

When I first got iTunes I downloaded a few songs, then I learnt about DRM and hated it. So I just ripped borrowed CDs, until I had exhausted by various friend's supplies. I thought about buying CDs but they are a complete rip off (pun very much intended!). So why not just acquire them from the internet...?! Now iTunes music is totally DRM free I am drifting back towards buying if the price is fair (and from places like Amazon).

Videos are still DRMed and overpriced, plus it takes ages for US TV shows to become available. When that is sorted out I will consider buying them.

I can see why so many people torrent, and I completely understand.
 
maflynn said:
The fact remains when you take something without paying or permission, that's theft. Life typically is not black and white, but in this case it is.
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I know that some consider this a black/white issue, but it isn't.

Intellectual property is an abstract concept to most people, and I can think of a few scenarios in which people are technically "stealing," but it isn't equivalent to physical theft as you suggest.


--A friend borrows a legally purchased CD from another, and rips the album to his computer for later enjoyment. Illegal, yes. Morally wrong, or financially detrimental to the artist, not really. It could be argued that friend B was a "potential" sale, but that argument could be made for anything, anyone, anytime.


--iPhone user A torrents his apps before deciding wether or not to purchase them, based on quality. He does this because reviews on the app store offer no indication of app caliber. "Stealing," technically. Morally wrong, only to some.


--iPad user x decides to torrent popular books instead of buying digital versions. Is it the convenience of the eBook that he's paying for, or the content itself? Consider that the same book could easily be picked up at the local library, and scanned into .pdf format. You argue "that is ok, because the author is being supported due to payment from the library for the book." If it is fine based on this notion, why is some "pirate" who bought the book to scan/upload not equivalent?


It's obvious that there is a gray area, even if most of these scenarios are legally defined as "theft." I don't pirate our of some disdain for the establishment, I do it because of the convenience that legal methods have yet to provide.

As for software, most developers under brand names are payed a controlled salary, with profits going to executive management. I never understood the "you don't support the hardworking devs!" argument, as buying Photoshop would be like me directly proliferating corporate greed.
 
Music, well yes, as half of the CD's arent ever released here, so when someone sends me a music recco, it gets downloaded. That being said, im a fan of CD Inserts/Art/Lyrics booklets, so if I end up liking a band, i do buy the CD's here (or via amazon)

TV Shows, used to, until I found Hulu and a good VPN.

iDevice apps, never would I download them illegally. Same goes for most movies (barring the LOTR 1080 rips, cause the BluRays arent out yet)
 
I downloaded 6 albums today.

I will purchase an album if I feel that one of them is worth it even though I already have it on my computer at high quality.


For those who say I'm "stealing", what exactly am I stealing, and how do the artists lose out in my case? 😕 They lose nothing, and may gain a fan for this week and in the future. They'll also get my money today, and possibly in the future with other releases. At least their name is now on my map. On the other hand, if I don't like what I hear, then they haven't gained or lost anything, and neither have I.

Like purchasing a painting, I wouldn't buy it unless I took a good look at it first. I have purchased 2 paintings in my life -- one for $300, and the other for $150. They were worth it. In the case of music, I need to give something a good listen before buying. Sorry, but I don't need to purchase music blindly based on a reviewer's opinion anymore. It's not the 1990s. If we have the means to make the system work this way, then lets do it.
 
I have never paid for a version of Windows.. :/ I refuse. It's crap. I also prefer my way as I know Windows Activation is COMPLETELY gone : )

I did buy leopard though. Although I did pirate Tiger once because I only had the DVD but needed it on CDs for an old mac.. I'm not really sure if its pirating because I owned the license.
 
Abstract said:
I downloaded 6 albums today.

I will purchase an album if I feel that one of them is worth it even though I already have it on my computer at high quality.


For those who say I'm "stealing", what exactly am I stealing, and how do the artists lose out in my case? 😕 They lose nothing, and may gain a fan for this week and in the future. They'll also get my money today, and possibly in the future with other releases. At least their name is now on my map. On the other hand, if I don't like what I hear, then they haven't gained or lost anything, and neither have I.

Like purchasing a painting, I wouldn't buy it unless I took a good look at it first. I have purchased 2 paintings in my life -- one for $300, and the other for $150. They were worth it. In the case of music, I need to give something a good listen before buying. Sorry, but I don't need to purchase music blindly based on a reviewer's opinion anymore. It's not the 1990s. If we have the means to make the system work this way, then lets do it.
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I agree with this! QFT

Im not going to loose any sleep over my actions.
 
I don't steal software, movies, music, tv shows or anything else. But it would be nice if there was a legal way to get access to many of the old programs i want to watch still.

Old cartoons are near impossible to get legally and i suspect other than illegal downloads these may never be within my grips. 🙁
 
rprebel said:
I torrent Top Gear and Dr. Who because it takes months for the episodes to air in the US, and even then it's edited down so they can fit in more commercials. I'll also "borrow" music to see if I want to buy it. If I like it I'll buy it, if not then it gets deleted. Same for movies, if I like it then I'll get the DVD.

I used to download lots of TV shows, to save space on the tivo, but I realized I never watched any of it so I stopped.
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Same here in the UK, accept it's Smallville, Supernatural, Nikita.

They're all 40 - 42 minutes in length to allow for ad breaks yet the channels themselves are something you have to pay a subscription for.

Supernatural was on ITV2 for 4 seasons, then a cable network snapped it up and a box set once a year is less than a cable subscription.

I waited so long for Smallville to stop being some sappy Dawson's Creek with superpowers show that I download it because even being 6 months behind is too much when I've waited this long for it to get going.

Nikita, again, a cable network thing.

I also watch stuff on surfthechannel

It's a supply and demand thing. Even legitimate ways of obtaining shows ahead of them being in the UK is a disappointment.

I bought a Family Guy episodes on iTunes and it was just the TV Episode from the states, even down to the TV14 certificate overlays and the encoding wasn't what I expect for something I paid for either. The DVD version is longer with extra scenes and no overlays.
 
TV Networks really don't have anyone else to blame but themselves. When Dexter airs tonight, it will be uploaded on the private torrent site I use within 15 minutes (east coast) and I'll have it downloaded within another 10 - 15 minutes commercial free. I'll be able to watch it 2.5 hours before it airs on the west coast.


If downloading a TV show is immoral and stealing, isn't using a PVR to record and skip the commercials the same thing? But no one seems to have a problem with this.

edit: I just remember Dexter has no commercials. But you get the idea!
 
Has anyone here gotten a letter from your ISP or one of those major movie companies about stop pirating or legal actions will follow? I have....Comcast sold me out...
 
I pirate everything that i cant hold in my hands. I'm 16 years old and i could never be as smart or get as good grades as i do now with out pirating. My CAD course at school just one of the program we use is worth $4000. Paying for the hardware is enough for me. I do occasionally pay for software when i have to though like when a game doesn't have online mode.
 
ohaithar said:
Has anyone here gotten a letter from your ISP or one of those major movie companies about stop pirating or legal actions will follow? I have....Comcast sold me out...
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Time Warner did that a couple of years ago. A friend of mine said he and a a few people he knew received these notifications/warnings in the mail. Glad I don't use them.
 
RawBert said:
Time Warner did that a couple of years ago. A friend of mine said he and a a few people he knew received these notifications/warnings in the mail. Glad I don't use them.
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I've received a notification from Cox similar to this, except they skipped the email part, redirecting all traffic to a site explaining the dangers of torrenting. I wasn't able to get back online until I hit the "I'm sawee, I did a bad thing" button.

Of course, this happened during a period when I was downloading ~100GB of material a week. 😱

Luckily for me, I know that their threats are all talk. If they were to actually shut off my service, I would be the first. They won't start doing that until forced by law.
 
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