Actually, they'd only cost 15-20% more. The only reason buisnesses go to china is because they have an infrastructure that allows for instantaneous production changes. See http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/bu...pagewanted=all
I stream a LOT of tv shows and a few films. I download and store very little - maybe 1 or 2 games a year and 2 or 3 films.
I pirate music, anime, movies & SOME games.
Music: I have heard some artists QQ about music (eg. Eminem ft. Royce da 5'9- Take from Me) but I really don't care, they are rich as fuck so their crying doesn't effect me. As for artists that aren't as popular then I will buy their albums if and when I can. Granted I normally pirate them first to see if the album is any good before buying it.
Movies: Most movies these days are the same recycled shit.
Anime: Because there is no decent official subtitle group for English, plus trying to find a place to buy anime in the UK is ridiculously hard. I do plan to learn Japanese soon so it won't be that much of an issue when that is done.
Games: I mainly pirate games to try them out if there is no demo available, if the game is crap then I don't buy it. Indie games are a no-no, I never ever pirate indie games.
If you don't pirate, good for you. If you pirate, whatever, I don't care.
Do whatever you want, I'm not the police.
This....enough movies and games that make record profit (inflation included) even though people download it from the internet.
Also when downloading a game or a movie gives people more enjoyment then actually buying a product then you can hardley blame people even if the said company stopped it's bad behaviour.
Remember a few years ago when digital music had all shorts of shit in it (DRM) and was of lower quality compared to the free download you could find online;
Remember the who spyware fiasco by Sony I believe when you tried to listen legally bought music from a music store on your computer;
When you buy a dvd or blue ray you have to endure the commercials and warnings, it is easier to just download a movie or rip it after you bought it
Games that require a active internet connection, it may not be a big deal but annoying compared to a hacked version you can download online
This is ignoring the quality of the product.
When I bought my orginal Xbox years ago I got the game Fable. It took me 8 hours to finish the game the first time and something like 12 hours the second time (did more side quest). If I didn't buy it as a pack I could have gone to the store on the same day and ask my money back because 8 hours of gameplay isn't worth my money.
Quality sells, just look at Blizzard games, it has a good single player mode and a excellent online player mode. And because of the online part Blizzard games always sell
This is the point of my own post, though;
Me downloading Lady Gaga's new album is perfectly legal in Canada, so how is my doing so "despicable"? I don't need to justify anything; the law explictly permits me to do so;
Originally Posted by Canadian Copyright Act
Source
Hell, I don't even consider it "piracy", which is why I'm trying to clarify things.
Half the things ive pirated are things ive bought 5+ years ago but misplaced.
Example: Command and COnquer, LOTR movies, Roller Coaster Tycoon2(and other nostalgia games).. All of these I have pirated because I bought them YEARS ago on old computers and threw away the CD. LOTR I bought on VHS lol. Im not about to pop a $15 VHS from 2002 into my computer and watch it.
But generally, if I want something I'll buy it. Ive Pirated ~15 things in my life.
Last edited by Trakanonn; 2012-02-27 at 10:15 PM.
Free-To-Play is the future.
I used to pirate songs during the napster days I stream bootleg movies. I do not pirate software at all as I am finishing up my degree and will be a programmer soon. I don't pirate for multiple reasons but mainly because I feel if people didn't pirate costs would go down. I still have all those expensive programs you guys are mentioning as well I have the full version of CS5 on Mac and Windows. I have Office 2011 on both mac and pc, and I have access to a buttload more but that because my university gets them for us.
If I watch a show for free on a website but don't download it or anything is it pirating?
I'm not gonna buy a show that is like 14 years old, doesn't come on tv anymore, and has like 300 episodes, because it would cost like 200+ dollars even though it is so old.
But I am not certain if just watching something counts as pirating or not.
^ what turbe was saying about animes
I wasn't addressing you directly (your post also hadn't shown when I made mine), if I came off that way - sorry!
If you are also addressing me directly, I will say that I left out strictly media products for a reason, and that's because the law is very lenient here in Sweden.
I think it's quite impossible to pirate something, only be in breach of copyright laws.
(also, if you already have bought/paid something for a physical or downloadable game/software, it's also fully legal, and then I don't consider it piracy, I even support doing so. I buy physical records and then download them, so that the disc will be unused :P)
If it's worth having, it's worth buying, IMO. That being said, sometimes things are just ridiculously overpriced and aren't worth what they charge....or they should be free to begin with. And, in all honestly, pirating actually helps a lot of people out in some ways, it gets their name out there for something that people may have otherwise overlooked or not bothered with. But if it's a band/author/movie everyone has heard of, it's not really doing shit to hurt them, they are just crying because they can. If I ever become a famous author for instance, I probably would be happy if it got pirated, even more people would read my shit and in the end, I'd end up with more money, me thinks. The band Radiohead, for example, actually gave out one of their albums to fans for free to kind of enhance their statement in regard to piracy. Admittedly, piracy can potentially hurt the little guys, but as a whole. it doesn't hurt the industry as much as the industry claims.
That being said, I haven't pirated anything in a long time, I used to a little bit with Kazaa, primarily movies along with some songs, but I stopped a good ten years ago now. Granted, I don't buy a lot of CDs or movies anymore, and when I do I get them from the bargain basket or something, I never pay full price unless it's something I really, really want. But, if a song is worth listening to, IMO, it's worth the dollar on itunes, but, in my case, there aren't a heck of a lot of songs worth listening to I don't already have because most shit in the past 15 years or so sucks ass.
I don't think watching some streamed movie online is illegal...it is, but I don't think it should be. Movies on the big screen, for instance, or just way better than anything in your home. I paid $10 to go see Episode I in 3d last week - something I've seen at least 5 times.
Video games used to have awesome demos, I dunno what happened to that. Like I downloaded Crysis years ago because I wanted to see how badly my computer would run it. I also downloaded some other games that I heard decent things about and wanted to try. I've pirated numerous games over the years and I never would have bought any of them. I enjoy collectors editions and games with shit tons of stuff in the box. I have played good games and then talked about them, created a stir and potentially other people to buy them. When Half Life 3 comes out, I'm going to buy it. If my computer can run Fallout 4, I'm going to buy it. If they make a Baldur's Gate III, I'm gonna buy it. This good shit, I'll starve myself for. I can't justify paying $60 for some game that I'd enjoy for maybe 10 hours that got a C+ on some video game rating website.
That pretty much sums it up.
i agree while software does cost money to develop.. wanting to charge people $1000 for each program is laughable.. especially since most college students are poor and can barely afford to pay for such things with all their student loans used up..
it may be immoral but pirating has caused most places to better themselves... and to think outside the box in order to profit... why do you think itunes came around?
It depends on where you live, basically.
In the US, it absolutely is illegal copyright infringement, arguably even if you DID own a copy of the content in question on another format. But the US has some of the most draconian and punitive copyright infringement laws in the world. What you describe would be perfectly legal in Canada to watch, though the guy running the website would be guilty of illegal infringement for streaming it in the first place. As for other nations, I'm not familiar enough with their copyright law to really comment.
Originally Posted by Aethon
Define "over-pricing".
If the product is selling at the listed price, by the principles of capitalism it is NOT overpriced; you're just too poor to get everything you want. A lot of professional programs like Photoshop cost hundreds of dollars, because they're aimed at corporate or business markets who can easily afford those prices. And often have significantly cut prices for students, because getting a student to use their software means they're a potential future employee pressuring their employer to buy that package.
You being too poor to afford it on your own does not give you any moral "right" to just take whatever the hell you want.