Electronic Piracy

[>>FrEnZy<<]

What do you guys think of Laws against Electronic piracy? I think its wrong, especially with music. Electronic entertainment is a non excludable good, and you haveing it doesnt mean I cant have it, so I dont see why everyone can share it. Dont get me wrong, I am against copy right laws, but information should be free to use by anyone.

Some of you may ask well how will muscians get the money to make music, or programs etc, I think that there are many methods of raising money to make your program or song, etc, even though it make take longer to get that money. Atleast your wish to make that program/song/etc will be much more genuwine instead of some of the music/programs/etc that are made today which are purely to make more money (must I remind you of EA?).

Anyway whats your position on Pirating and why?

 

[PimpinPenguin]

I am sorta in between in some cases i am all for piracy if someone downloads a music track i don't care those muscians have too much money anyway so boo hoo they lose a few million they won't miss it. But for software like games i am not cause some of those games cost millions to make and take years so they need the money.

 

[gick]

I am sorta in between in some cases i am all for piracy if someone downloads a music track i don't care those muscians have too much money anyway so boo hoo they lose a few million they won't miss it. But for software like games i am not cause some of those games cost millions to make and take years so they need the money.

Ok, what about the thousands of hard working musicians who work their asses off every single day and pour their heart and soul into their music, is it OK to rip them off?

Cuz, y'know, all musicians are millionaires, right?

 

[kirovman]

I don't really like IP violation, but you do have to try before you buy in some cases (although there are usually official ways for you to do that).

I mean, why pay £12 for a CD, or £30 for a game to find out it's a load of tosh?

But yeah, you can usually hear the song on the radio (which would prompt you to buy the album) or play the demo, before you buy.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

I think CDs are a little overpriced, but pirating music and software should stay illegal. If it wasn't illegal, musicians/software companies would have no financial reason to keep making music/software, resulting in less produced. So less for you to choose from.

Morally right or wrong, it makes perfect economic sense.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Mechagodzilla]

If information should be free to use by everyone, then give me your credit card information.

Immediately.

Unless you're being a massive hypocrite, duncecap.



Now that that's out of the way, I do rarely use "piracy" in a fundamentally legal way. Either to get copies of tracks I already own, copies of free tracks, or (almost never) as samples to see if an album is worth buying (which I then immediately delete).

That last one is technically illegal, but I don't consider it to be any different from listening to the radio, internet radio, free internet samples and so forth. It's essentially personal Fair Use, because the use is so limited.

Beyond the morality, actually buying your albums prevents you from listening to really stupid shit because it forces you to have higher standards.
If you're an internet pirate, I can practically guarantee that you have the theme song to at least one 80's television programme on there. It's unavoidable that you end up with bullshit that you would never actually pay for in grown-up world.

 

[kirovman]

Ah but you forget, in a socialist system musicians would be given book tokens!

 

[ríomhaire]

I am sorta in between in some cases i am all for piracy if someone downloads a music track i don't care those muscians have too much money anyway so boo hoo they lose a few million they won't miss it. But for software like games i am not cause some of those games cost millions to make and take years so they need the money.

I'm sure every musician is a millionare, and everyone who works in the publishing and recording compaines are millionares. Stop trying to justify your greed.

 

[brink's]

Up here in Canada, it's called file sharing and it's legal....so i take advantage of that.

 

[Fliko]

I think it should be illegal, but I take advantage of my legal rights to file share music

 

[VictimOfScience]

If there's one kind of piracy I hate, it's CONSpiracy.

 

[Gray Fox]

It should be illegal IMO. Making it legal would hurt us and the music industry more then if it stays this way. Still though the government could get of it's ass and do something about large kartels and monopolies, the high pirating rate is a drect result of the inflated prices the music companies ask. Simply because the movie and music world is dominated by a few very very large players.

 

[kirovman]

I suggest a Steam-like music distribution system, to cut those nasty publishers out of all the deals.

 

[Hazar]

I think CDs are a little overpriced, but pirating music and software should stay illegal. If it wasn't illegal, musicians/software companies would have no financial reason to keep making music/software, resulting in less produced. So less for you to choose from.

Morally right or wrong, it makes perfect economic sense.

-Angry Lawyer

qft

especially if you're in one of thoes buisnesses

 

[Angry Lawyer]

If there's one kind of piracy I hate, it's CONSpiracy.

Am I the only one who read this as

If there's one kind of piracy I hate, it's CONStipation.

And said "WTF?"

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Raziaar]

I think pirating should be illegal, but penalties shouldn't be as harsh as they are unless you're making profit selling them. Getting arrested and paying ridiculous fines for just casually downloading something(which is all too tempting and easy), and not selling it to anybody, is retarded.

 

[Hazar]

I just spent like a minute staring at the cow raz, I WANT MY TIME BACK

 

[Raziaar]

I just spent like a minute staring at the cow raz, I WANT MY TIME BACK

Far shorter than the time i've spent staring at your awesome breakdancing avatar.

 

[Geogaddi]

I'm happy with it being illegal and easy to get away with.

I buy music from artsits I like after I <DON'T> download their music first.

 

[Hazar]

Far shorter than the time i've spent staring at your awesome breakdancing avatar.

D:

 

[K e r b e r o s]

Electronic Piracy should be illegal. Imagine if you painted a really pretty picture. Or, wrote something ten times the worth of anyone thing Bach could've produced.

Now, picture that someone took what you made -- copied it and gave themselves credit. Or better yet, stormed into that art gallery or music collection were your prize of work was being displayed, and stole it?

Shared parts of it with friends. How would you feel to know what you contributed as an effort to make this world and society a little more interesting was disrespected on first site and is missing, probably in tatters?

I'm against electronic piracy for those reasons and more.

 

[No Limit]

It should be illegal. However, I think I will be the first honest person and admit that I have downloaded music, software, and other things illegally. It is so damn easy to do and you would be lying if you say you have never done it.

Software companies are getting much smarter when it comes to stealing software and soon they will be able to block illegal use of their programs. The music industry also is coming up with some very smart anti piracy measures and as CDs become outdated and everything becomes digital they will be able to stop most piracy. Also, windows vista will start implementing anti piracy methods and Im sure in future releases microsoft will be able to eliminate it.

Until then I really can't help myself.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Windows Vista anti piracy methods are going to fail since they have implemented those new feature in every version except the ultimate version and you don't need to activate that one.Software companies will never be able to stop piracy cause there is always someone smarter who can crack the security.I admit i used to pirate games i pirated half life liked it and bought it if i never pirated it i would never had bought it. But the law must be changed i mean a software pirate got 2 years and a £76000 fine yet a rapist murderer got 12 months in jail.

 

[Raeven0]

Rah, rah, rah.

Now that the industry has finally picked up on the potential profit in metred piracy--that is, now that services such as the highly useful Rhapsody and Pandora are widespread--I don't consider electronic piracy nearly as justifiable as I did a few years ago.

 

[joule]

Of course, but I just love free stuff too much!

 

[Absinthe]

It should be illegal. The punishments perhaps not as harsh, given the way in which a lot of people pirate (a few songs here and there), and the fact that it's nowhere near the same as physical robbery (you're not actually removing the songs from the owner's posession). But illegal nonetheless.

Don't get me wrong, I do it. I do it a lot. But I also accept that should I ever get busted for it, I'd need to face up to the consequences.

 

[JNightshade]

It should absolutely be illegal. Do I do it regularly? Absolutely! The thing is, I'm perfectly capable of accepting the fact that I do bad things. If I get caught, so be it. But until then, being a pirate is alright with me.

 

[Raziaar]

It should be illegal. However, I think I will be the first honest person and admit that I have downloaded music, software, and other things illegally. It is so damn easy to do and you would be lying if you say you have never done it.

Software companies are getting much smarter when it comes to stealing software and soon they will be able to block illegal use of their programs. The music industry also is coming up with some very smart anti piracy measures and as CDs become outdated and everything becomes digital they will be able to stop most piracy. Also, windows vista will start implementing anti piracy methods and Im sure in future releases microsoft will be able to eliminate it.

Until then I really can't help myself.

You're not the first 'honest' person who has admitted to downloading music, software, and other things illegally in this thread. And as far as the forum... people admit it all the time, including me, and thus it is implied in the thread, without needing explicit declaration.

 

[K e r b e r o s]

It should be illegal. However, I think I will be the first honest person and admit that I have downloaded music, software, and other things illegally. It is so damn easy to do and you would be lying if you say you have never done it.

Software companies are getting much smarter when it comes to stealing software and soon they will be able to block illegal use of their programs. The music industry also is coming up with some very smart anti piracy measures and as CDs become outdated and everything becomes digital they will be able to stop most piracy. Also, windows vista will start implementing anti piracy methods and Im sure in future releases microsoft will be able to eliminate it.

Until then I really can't help myself.

So, will we punish the next man who holds a gas station clerk at gunpoint threatening to execute him/her while stealing money from they're Cash Register? Or will we agree not to view as a crime? The DA hired to represent the charged will assert, "This petty and easily commitable offense is hardly punishable because of the lacking security measures who are more to blame for the encouragement and motivation to commit this crime then the crook" but should we believe them? The criminal might say, "It was just so wow! Easy! And, I could, so I just did!", was he right for doing so?

It has to stop somewhere -- because if we can allow or even think that stealing is the right way to go, nobody will work to earn anything. Intead they will remain poor, dignifying such stagnancy with taking whats not theres, or "stealing" what they have'nt earned for themselves with the idea of, "Well, if I can, why not?"

I'm not berating you or trying to make a point off you. I'm just trying to make this arguement a little more interesting by adding what I feel about Electronic Piracy.

Don't get me wrong, I do it. I do it a lot. But I also accept that should I ever get busted for it, I'd need to face up to the consequences.

:thumbs: You sir, are awesome.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

However, I think I will be the first honest person and admit that I have downloaded music, software, and other things illegally.

I'm the first to admit to successfully quitting piracy.

Moral high ground = me.

 

[K e r b e r o s]

*bows to Mecha*

 

[No Limit]

I'm the first to admit to successfully quitting piracy.

Moral high ground = me.

Congrats. :thumbs:

Maybe one day when Im not totally broke I can actually pay for something.

You're not the first 'honest' person who has admitted to downloading music, software, and other things illegally in this thread. And as far as the forum... people admit it all the time, including me, and thus it is implied in the thread, without needing explicit declaration.

Sorry, didn't mean to upset you with that statement.

 

[Tr0n]

I'm the first to admit to successfully quitting piracy.

Moral high ground = me.

Bullshit.

 

[Solaris]

Why not create state piracy?
Say the state creates a P2P thingy, and you pay 3quid a month to access it, and you can download what you want, as much as you want. All the profits go to the artists retrospectively of what they download. Dissidents will be shot. Death to the musical bourgeoisie.

 

[Nemesis6]

I gotta admit, I've been torrenting for a few old games - Painkiller, FEAR, etc, because my computer at the time of these games was crap. I could have gone to buy them I guess. Lately I downloaded Company of Heroes. That, however, I bought about a week or two after getting it. And I don't have the money to buy new stuff, so the torrent network for example, is a big help to me. Also, I download episodes of Stargate Atlantis and SG1 along with Battlestar Galactica regularly, along with all kinds of stuff we will never get on our pathetic excuse for TV here in Denmark... Like Family Guy, and the two beforementioned. What's the law like on that issue, anyway? I mean, downloading a TV rip is like a tape. Just digital, so what's the legal deal on that?

It has helped me quite a deal because I really can't afford it as far as games go I think. And it has opened my eyes to the fact that there's media outside our pathetic Danish excuse for television. Media actually WORTH WATCHING.

But what do I know, according to the RIAA, I'm a red communist like Solaris. You see, according to them, and I quote the following picture: "When you're downloading MP3s, you're downloading COMMUNISM" -

See for yourselves - http://www.hirnbrand.de/pics/communism.jpg

See that? That's me. No, not the red one. I'm the one at the IMAC, because, you know, 'hip' people use IMACs. And I am spreading a deadly ideology. That makes me an evil person.

 

[Dynasty]

I am sorta in between in some cases i am all for piracy if someone downloads a music track i don't care those muscians have too much money anyway so boo hoo they lose a few million they won't miss it. But for software like games i am not cause some of those games cost millions to make and take years so they need the money.

Agreed. Music is fine because the bands get money from their sponsors and advertising etc.

Games and movies = a big no no.

 

[gick]

Agreed. Music is fine because the bands get money from their sponsors and advertising etc.

Yeah, a tiny minority do. But like I said earlier, there are thousands of struggling artists who could potentially be ruined by people ripping them off.

 

[Solaris]

Small artists don't have big CD's in most stores anyway, and if they do they're already rich.

The way we work now is pretty perfect. People download music, it's easy as Pie at the moment, but becuase of peoples consiences, and live gigs emerging artists still make enough money.

Piracy is good, and I fully support it.

Yarrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[ríomhaire]

Small artists don't have big CD's in most stores anyway, and if they do they're already rich.

Bull-****ing-shit. My cousin's band, Elephant managed to convince a few shops to take their album, are they rich? Nowhere ****ing near it. Stop trying to justify your theft you asshole.

 

[Raziaar]

Sorry, didn't mean to upset you with that statement.

Damn straight. I don't like my piracy to go unnoticed.

LAWL.


NOTE to any observers... I'm just completely, completely joking around. Yep.