"The Interview" was pirated about as much as it was purchased at release.

[TheSerialSniper]

OFC it was, it was released in U.S. only. Even the article says "Torrent Freak notes that a majority of the illegal downloads are from international viewers.". People are genuinely curious about the movie because of the huge rukus it caused and were anxious to see it asap.

[Kathandira]

Except pirating != stealing.

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It doesn't. Your statement is wrong, can we not call you on your wrongness?

Explain how it is wrong? Did you buy the product? Or did you download it illegally without purchase?

[Elim Garak]

The buy it when it finally does get released?

Nope. If it's available on torrents before it's available in stores - no money from me. It's the principle.

Although I personally think studios get themseles into this mess by not having a universal release. Staged releases are a stupid idea.

And they will continue to do it as long as sheep keep waiting.

[alturic]

Except pirating != stealing.

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It doesn't. Your statement is wrong, can we not call you on your wrongness?

How is illegally obtaining ANYTHING not stealing? Do you feel that digital items cannot be "stolen" or something? If I have a digital item and you obtained it by not paying me for it, you stole it... I didn't give you permission to access my digital item.

[Begrudge]

pirating is not illegal, distributing it is. I pay for internets, it comes with my internets, I am not stealing.

[StayTuned]

Mind you, a movie is not a necessity in life, it is a leisurely activity. It is so important to you that you must steal it?

On the contrary. It is so unimportant to me that I don't want to pay for it.

[Kathandira]

Nope. If it's available on torrents before it's available in stores - no money from me. It's the principle.

So you justify your theft by your moral code?

[Orly]

I keep asking but no one has answered this yet. If it isn't available in your country(whatever the reason) what gives you the right to watch it?

If I'm not the targeted demographic then what gives you the right to consider it wrong if I watch it or not? It's clear that I was not part of the potential profit, therefore it doesn't matter whether I see it or not.

Ah....you want only specific people to watch it? That's an asshole move. Expect people to be assholes right back.

[Crissi]

Nope. If it's available on torrents before it's available in stores - no money from me. It's the principle.

And they will continue to do it as long as sheep keep waiting.

Can call me a sheep, but considering I will most likely be producing stuff on my own in the future, i will refuse to do what I don't want people to do to me. *shrug*

[Rocketknight]

I watched The Interview illegally. I went to 'www.watchtheinterview.com', entered my credit card details, and was told I needed to be inside the US. I downloaded a proxy, set myself on a US server, and tried again. I was told I also needed a US credit card.

I don't feel at all bad about watching the interview. I tried to give them my money, and they would not accept it, so now they will miss out on my money. I don't want to wait until it is available in my country to watch it; I want to watch it while it is relevant.

[Orange Joe]

If I'm not the targeted demographic then what gives you the right to consider it wrong if I watch it or not? It's clear that I was not part of the potential profit, therefore it doesn't matter whether I see it or not.

Ah....you want only specific people to watch it? That's an asshole move. Expect people to be assholes right back.

lol you still didn't answer the question.

[Kathandira]

pirating is not illegal, distributing it is. I pay for internets, it comes with my internets, I am not stealing.

You pay for access to the internet, this does not guarantee that all content is free. Hence why there are payment methods, and also why torrenting is illegal.

[alturic]

I have yet to download a torrent without malware and I have been torrenting for about 10 years now, I put the file I want in my main HDD and format the drive I downloaded it to. Downloading only provides bot nets with a means of causing DDOS attacks which the same people will complain about which they are usually causing with their recklessness.

What the hell are you downloading (perhaps WHO is the better question?) that your torrents are infested with malware? Unless (not being rude, just saying...) of course you consider your antivirus/malware scanner saying KeyGenX.exe has "Win.HackTool" as being malware.

For the record though, I can easily plow through 100GB+ a month on torrents and have yet had my firewall show anything errant sending traffic out or even attach itself to a "good" process and send out large sums of bandwidth.

[Elim Garak]

Stealing = taking something which you do not have permission to take.

pirating = taking something you do not have permission to take.

Pirating = stealing.

Oh please ,you won't win this argument semantically.

Copying != taking.

[Orly]

How is illegally obtaining ANYTHING not stealing? Do you feel that digital items cannot be "stolen" or something? If I have a digital item and you obtained it by not paying me for it, you stole it... I didn't give you permission to access my digital item.

EXCEPT stealing implies removing someone's access to something. Pirating doesn't.

[Shahad]

ITT: Thieves who believe they are justified for whatever reason they deem fit.

Stealing is stealing, no matter your reasoning.

I'm a pirate. I don't steal anything and I'm not going to stop pirating anytime soon, simply because I can't feasibly afford much. Seeing as I would not be buying the stuff I pirate, there is literally no loss on the part of the content creator. In fact, there's only gain, since I will be recommending the content I consume to others, which is essentially free advertising. There's simply no basis for treating this the same way as theft.

[chrisberb]

I paid $6 to rent it on Youtube. Kept getting "licensing" errors, and couldn't get it to play. So I...looked to see if it could be downloaded.
The movie from what I understand was released in a small number of theaters around the country, and the streaming access was on I believe 3 platforms? Google Play, Youtube...and something else I think. Not exactly accessible to everyone, especially if you don't have a good internet connection.

[Orange Joe]

Oh please ,you won't win this argument semantically.

Copying != taking.

This does not change the definition of stealing.

And yes. copying = taking. I mean for the simple fact you are making a copy for yourself to take.

[Begrudge]

What the hell are you downloading (perhaps WHO is the better question?) that your torrents are infested with malware? Unless (not being rude, just saying...) of course you consider your antivirus/malware scanner saying KeyGenX.exe has "Win.HackTool" as being malware.

For the record though, I can easily plow through 100GB+ a month on torrents and have yet had my firewall show anything errant sending traffic out or even attach itself to a "good" process and send out large sums of bandwidth.

I havent used a antivirus or malware remover since about 2003, most people turn them off anyway coz they slow down their moms computer which they do not care about.

[Orly]

You pay for access to the internet, this does not guarantee that all content is free. Hence why there are payment methods, and also why torrenting is illegal.

I do believe torrenting is illegal because it makes a profit out of things not their own.