Should pirating music/movies/games/etc stay illegal or not?

[kail]

I fail to see how me copying a song is a crime, what damage has occurred?

The creator does not get paid.

[Total Crica]

Literally jobs everywhere in my city. Maybe if you'd turn your PC off you could go look.

OT: People who pretend like pirating isn't a thing are really being dishonest.

thats nice, bring me a job, k? i dont have the money to go to your city, you know, kinda like i dont have the money to pay rent, see where this is leading? reality sure is tough for you, isnt it?

[kail]

theft means i took something from you and you no longer have what i took, i am not taking the internet from anyone when i use it

more like after a company is wiping their butts with money there is no reason to imprison those who cant even pay their rent

You are taking their money. That's theft. Stealing from the rich is still stealing.

[P for Pancetta]

If you can do it, and you can get away with it, you should absolutely do it. If you don't you're a fool. The companies you're pirating from have entire departments dedicated to cheating the system. Sometimes you want something created by someone that doesn't cheat the system. Just take it, it'll teach them the hard knock lessons of reality. People suck, deal with it.

[Total Crica]

You are taking their money. That's theft. Stealing from the rich is still stealing.

i WISH i was taking their money, then i could pay my rent! but alas, all i have is a smile after watching their movie...and my landlord doesn't let me pay my rent with smiles ; ;

[Alnilam81]

You are taking their money. That's theft. Stealing from the rich is still stealing.

Exactly, plus don't act like the only stuff pirated is made by billionaires.

[kail]

i WISH i was taking their money, then i could pay my rent! but alas, all i have is a smile after watching their movie... ; ;

Except, you are taking their money. Normally they would be paid for the content you are watching/playing/listening, but with you they are not. Shit situations are shit, I get it. Been there, done that. Doesn't make the action any less wrong. I won't tell you to stop pirating, just don't act stupid in trying to justify it with fallacies.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

thats nice, bring me a job, k? i dont have the money to go to your city, you know, kinda like i dont have the money to pay rent, see where this is leading? reality sure is tough for you, isnt it?

If you (somehow) can't find a job, then I'd suggest begging, checking websites like craigslist for odd jobs, or even selling your things... you know, instead of just complaining online, trying to defend your when you pirate.

[Total Crica]

Except, you are taking their money. Normally they would be paid for the content you are watching/playing/listening, but with you they are not. Shit situations are shit, I get it. Been there, done that. Doesn't make the action any less right. I won't tell you to stop pirating, just don't act stupid in trying to justify it with fallacies.

again, since i dont have the money to pay to watch, they would not get any money when i watch or when i dont watch, so they are not loosing any money when i watch......or when i dont watch....

- - - Updated - - -

If you (somehow) can't find a job, then I'd suggest begging, checking websites like craigslist for odd jobs, or even selling your things... you know, instead of just complaining online, trying to defend your when you pirate.

ok, hey, can i have a job? please? c'mon, let me have one, ok? im on my knees right now, man! pleeeeeeeeease? just one job, ok? thanks!

[Vash The Stampede]

Honestly no, because piracy falls in a grey area. Too many instances where you do something you think is perfectly fine, but turns out to be illegal. Things like copying games, copying music, and etc. Nobody reads license agreements, and nobody cares what your lawyers say. It's extremely easy to pirate, and the harder companies try to stop piracy, the easier it gets to pirate.

The smarter thing to do is work with piracy. I'm not saying to let people download your stuff for free, but find better incentives to stop them, besides suing random people hoping that'll deter others, cause it ain't working.

If you're a software developer, be afraid of open source. Your software isn't a special snow flake.
If you're a game developer, you should lower prices or make better games.
If you're a singer/music writer, I would embrace YouTube. Music today doesn't have the same power as it did decades ago.

[Deleted]

No, it should be legal until services shape the fuck up and offer the series/movies you want to watch, at the same time in all the world. It's fucking ridiculous with some series that we have to wait for like, a year or more before it comes to Sweden. I'd rather download it in that case. I wouldn't even download anything if they actually had a way for me to watch it when I want to, without stupid region restrictions on when a new season is going to be released even though it's been out for ages in USA.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

ok, hey, can i have a job? please? c'mon, let me have one, ok? im on my knees right now, man! pleeeeeeeeease? just one job, ok? thanks!

If I had my own business I would give you a shot.

But yeah, try looking.

[kail]

again, since i dont have the money to pay to watch, they would not get any money when i watch or when i dont watch, so they are not loosing any money when i watch......or when i dont watch....

Then the exchange ends where you are unable to pay for the content. They lost money by you not paying up on your end. I can go perform as a musician at a restaurant. After I'm done, the owner decides to cheat me and not pay. I didn't lose anything physical nor did my finance suddenly dropped, but I lost out on the money that was owed to me.

Again, terrible reasonings and fallacies.

[Total Crica]

If I had my own business I would give you a shot.

But yeah, try looking.

yeah, ok, looking... hmm... i see a job! oh wait, i dont have the money to get to the place... darn... hmmm... oh, here we go, there is one! ah...i would have less money then i have right now if i work there for a week!...hmm...oh how about that one? oh, never mind, dont have the skills...wait, there is one! crap, it was a scam....

- - - Updated - - -

Then the exchange ends where you are unable to pay for the content. They lost money by you not paying up on your end. I can go perform as a musician at a restaurant. After I'm done, the owner decides to cheat me and not pay. I didn't lose anything physical nor did my finance suddenly dropped, but I lost out on the money that was owed to me.

Again, terrible reasonings and fallacies.

if you worked at a bar knowing they did not have the money to pay you, it's not the bar's fault you did not get paid for working there

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

yeah, ok, looking... hmm... i see a job! oh wait, i dont have the money to get to the place... darn... hmmm... oh, here we go, there is one! ah...i would have less money then i have right now if i work there for a week!...hmm...oh how about that one? oh, never mind, dont have the skills...wait, there is one! crap, it was a scam....

Right.

Lets stay on topic.

[Grimreaper]

Honestly no, because piracy falls in a grey area. Too many instances where you do something you think is perfectly fine, but turns out to be illegal. Things like copying games, copying music, and etc. Nobody reads license agreements, and nobody cares what your lawyers say. It's extremely easy to pirate, and the harder companies try to stop piracy, the easier it gets to pirate.

The smarter thing to do is work with piracy. I'm not saying to let people download your stuff for free, but find better incentives to stop them, besides suing random people hoping that'll deter others, cause it ain't working.

If you're a software developer, be afraid of open source. Your software isn't a special snow flake.
If you're a game developer, you should lower prices or make better games.
If you're a singer/music writer, I would embrace YouTube. Music today doesn't have the same power as it did decades ago.

Hilarious part about this is that it's also illegal to make a copy of something for yourself, for your own personal use. It falls under pirating aswell, even if you have already paid for it and have no intentions of sharing it with anyone.

[kail]

It's extremely easy to pirate, and the harder companies try to stop piracy, the easier it gets to pirate.

Not always true, some DRM tech is proving too difficult to break. Always online games like Blizzard's games are rarely pirated. The more people pirate, the more companies will invest in DRM and in some cases come out successful.

If you're a software developer, be afraid of open source. Your software isn't a special snow flake.

Wait what? Did you miss a "don't" in there?

If you're a game developer, you should lower prices or make better games.

Best contents and low price games are still pirated. IMO, better business practices like demos are what's needed. Refund policies are also great as well. Crap products should not make profits.

If you're a singer/music writer, I would embrace YouTube. Music today doesn't have the same power as it did decades ago.

Most do already, if anything Youtube is it's own form of DRM. Want to listen for free? Do so online and watch the ad.

[Deleted]

It should stay illegal for 10 years. This gives the creators enough time to milk it while giving a chance for other people experience it for free or use the ideas to create even better things
This is currently a big problem in pharmaceutical ideas for example, where a company holds a patent to life saving drugs and sells them for thousands of dollars just to get rich. You shouldn't be allowed to gamble with peoples' lives like that.

Why? Because it would mean that someone who creates something nice can't just stay there to milk it for the rest of their lives while poor stupid blokes can't access their ideas. It would allow other companies to use ideas for the betterment of humankind after the 10 years have passed since more brains are better than 1. It would allow access to scientific papers now locked behind several paywalls and using those ideas to advance scientifically as a people, as a planet.

In 10 years most of the income already starts to dry out anyway unless you come with something new. Imagine having played Classical WoW for 15 years for example, since games are also mentioned. You'd have gotten bored no matter how much you loved it eventually. But Blizzard brought new expansions so they innovated. Things like this should happen in technology, pharmaceutical companies etc too. Instead companies can milk a product for several decades now without improving it whatsoever if people need it.

[kail]

if you worked at a bar knowing they did not have the money to pay you, it's not the bar's fault you did not get paid for working there

How would I know if the bar owner has the money or not? Why would they hire me if they did not have the money? How do content creators know when distributing it online? Why watch it if you don't have the money? You might want to stop yourself, it's only getting more embarrassing for you tbh.

It is entirely the bar's fault for not paying me, you literally reversed the victim/perpetrator in that situation.

[Eroginous]

I'm sorry do you have some sort of crystal ball?
How do you know it wont work the way you describe it?
Right we all believe in the negative side because there is no way something good might come out of a merger.

No wonder people are so stuck in their greedy own minds.
Exploration of new things is not a bane it should be encouraged.
Both company's can work together and gain a lot even if they dont merge but they refuse because "money" .

But lets not de-rail this anymore its about piracy which i fully support btw because i want to be able to test the product 1st then decide if i wanna buy it.
If its worth it i will no questions asked if only half of it or some %of it is worth it i'll look for a way to get the % i want via piracy or some platform that allows me to buy the % i want from the product.

We have these things called 'anti trust laws.' Basically, our government grants operating licenses to businesses on the grounds that they comply with these laws (given the fact that trust is not an option when dealing with a company). A big reason for these laws is to prevent a company from engaging in business practices that remove the ability for other companies to compete in the same business (monopoly). Given the example of Telecom companies, right now it's not possible to pick a different cable based ISP in the US. Depending on where you live in the US, your local government might have made it illegal for there to be more than one company providing cable internet services in an area, which is illegal. Other places simply don't have the infrastructure in place for anyone to come in and provide cable internet, so it becomes cost prohibitive to anyone except a big company to supply internet there. Lastly, you have companies who simply don't bother to try and compete because an area already has been established and controlled by one company and without running your own infrastructure it becomes impossible to penetrate said market.

To give you an example, Washington is serviced by Comcast cable internet in most areas. I lived in Bonney Lake when Comcast was still Viacom. I lived in Puyallup when they changed to Comcast. I moved to Spanaway and Comcast was still the only cable ISP. It wasn't until this year, upon moving to Port Orchard (where Comcast isn't established yet) that I was given a different option for cable internet service. Surprise surprise, it's still the only cable internet option, but at least it's NOT Comcast (or the other big 3 asshole ISPs). Wave Broadband is a new company dedicated to avoiding the negative reputation that Comcast has earned, by providing quality customer service and putting the needs of their customers first. I pay $60 a month for 100/10 right now, fixed price for a year for just internet. After a year, my price will go up to $80 a month, but that's as high as it will go (because $80 is the normal price, $60 was a new customer discount). Additionally, they are increasing my speed to 200 mbps down soon at no additional charge.