Hello guys, so I would like to know your view on pirated entertainment basically.
the thing is, I live in a third world country and one dollar can actually feed me for a day (cliché right? well it's true) so I can't say that paying that dollar for a song is actually an option. Not a sane option anyway.
Also, we don't really have any digital piracy laws so the government doesn't give a crap.
The result of that is in brief: I have about 300GB of mp3s, about 400GB of movies and another 500GB of series.
Not to mention the ones I downloaded, watched and then deleted of course.
Apart from that I am a programmer and I have a degree in artificial intelligence. I understand why I'm breaking the law. But am I really?
More than 99% of the people in my country don't have a credit cards, and there's no virgin mega store or anything similar anywhere in here.
So I understand that what I'm doing isn't right for the people who produces the media but I also have no other way of obtaining it and no one else in my country does. AND I NEED MY DOCTOR WHO EPISODES!
And the thing is none of the producing companies have been bankrupt because of me and they don't seem to care. so why should I pay way more than I make to keep them happy when by the way even IF I wanted to pay for something it'll cost me a fortune just to have the money delivered to them?
So what I'm trying to say is that it's funny how we draw the line. I don't believe all things should be given for free but I do believe that if something is good enough it'll find a way to make money and I will give it my money if I could and if it was reasonable to do so.
In the meanwhile I'll just keep on downloading bears. can you really say that I'm breaking the law though?
The argument that publishers use is that 1download=1lost sale=financial harm to producers which is a falacy because there is no guarantee that a person willing to pay nothing for a product would pay for it otherwise, also by their logic of lost revenue=financial harm they are the bad guys by creating products people don't want to buy, at prices people don't want to pay with distribution systems that don't reach their potential customers and that their potential customers don't like.
Also for things likemusic nearly none of that money goes to the producers once again making them the bad guys by the definitions they use to try and demonize us. Also they say it is theft, theft is when you take someone elses property so that they can't use it, all 'piracy' is, is making a copy. Hence the term 'copyright law' which refers to the right to produce something. It is important to note that such laws where made with the aim of regulating producers and not at consumers.
>Also note I have over 190 PAID Steam games, I would probably pay for TV and Movies (like game of thrones/vikings) at reasonable prices if they were available DRM free over such a distribution system, they are not (there loss not mine).
I completely agree. Also note than without piracy we would absolutely not be able to have access to a ton of information whether its music or books or any other media that we -as a humanity- need to at least communicate through the mainstream culture and the underground culture, something the internet is just amazing at.
Because after all the internet is a better place of distributing information than money :)
I'd love to say "I oppose piracy". Because I theoretically do. If you don't own a license, it's theft, and I dislike thieves. However, sometimes there is no other option to get the media you want. And seriously, if something is not available in my country at relase date, or only available in an incomplete version, or just not at all via normal means,... the company apperantly does not want my money. That's what I make of it anyway, at least as far as my ..."non-purchases" are concerned it's a pure distribution problem.
Please not that just "I wouldn't pay for it anyway" is not a reason that justifies piracy, IMHO. If you don't think it's worth a price, why bother at all?
I have the same problem here in Thailand. Nothing is priced differently to equal the value of the currency here, if that makes sense. For example, a copy of Windows costs the same here as it does back in the States. The only problem is that it is almost 2 months rent for me (not including bills).
It's also somewhat difficult to find anything (especially movies and game) that are original. I have to drive over a hundred miles to get anything original because I can't purchase online (I'm American and can't get a credit card in Thailand). So instead of buying pirated material from someone else, I do it myself.
When I finally get myself and my family back home, I will pay for what I want, but until then I really have no other choice.
Technically, the original poster is breaking the law. But, he has done it in a well justified manor. Companies need to realise that the majority of piracy is a distribution problem. On that note: anyone know how to legally get losless audio files in the Uk without buying CD's?
My view is that if there is a Game, Movie, Album or other media that I want I will pay for it. But If it is not made available in a reasonable amount of time, through a reasonable medium then it is simply a failure of the distribution company to offer the content in a form that can be sold.
If the content is available for sale I will buy it, but if it's not then it's a failure of the distribution company to present the product for sale. If it's not for sale it's free or priceless.
If a car dealer said "yes you can have it but you will have to wait a year and it has to be an auto with yellow paint and white wall tyres" how many cars would they sell?