An excuse for Piracy.

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Ahoy mateys! I think there is no excuse for it, most like reasons, reasons I normally don't agree with, but in the end it's your call.
Testing something before buying it it's a lame excuse, you won't starve to death for spending 30 bucks on a CD, so, be reasonable and spend the money it costs.

So you think that every time you use someone's copyright you should have to pay royalties why is this only true of commercial media or did you forget that every time you quote someone in school assignments you are using someone copyrighted ideas for your own personal gain.

This is simply a double standard that exists in society it is not about the rule of law or about stealing since in both cases you are not depriving someone of physical property it is a question of compensation for ideas.

Which seems only to exist when the ideas are put into a published medium, while we seem free to quote peoples life's work without paying them a cent. Sure we must acknowledge them but I don't see anyone disputing who owns true blood while torrenting it.

Also note all laws are designed to restrict personal freedoms in attempt to create safety and harmony in society something being the law does not make it right, just, good, effective or indeed logical or sane.

That's a cheap technisism, quoting a part of I don't know, Atlas Shrugged at school or whatever, is not as near as making copies of it in word and giving it for free to everyone who doesn't want to pay for the damn book.

 

[Jewrean]

I share the South Park creators view on Piracy. It can be found in this episode:

http://allsp.com/l.php?id=e105

Oh noez! The artists can't get that Gold Plated Shark Tank! OMG! Sobz...

I will also point out that some things (such as South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, etc) are FREE online anyway legally. Not only that but a LOT of music is free and free to stream on sites like LastFm.

Personally I don't really see a difference in being able to stream something and store it on my hard drive. I wasn't going to buy it anyway so no difference to the artists in question.

What I really hate is whenever people make up bullshit statistics about how much the movie industry is losing due to piracy. So... what you think that dude that has 1000 pirated movies would actually buy them real if piracy wasn't an option? LOLS! Sure he might buy a couple, but are people really that naive that any copy of their work made = loss of revenue?

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

I share the South Park creators view on Piracy. It can be found in this episode:

http://allsp.com/l.php?id=e105

Oh noez! The artists can't get that Gold Plated Shark Tank! OMG! Sobz...

I will also point out that some things (such as South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, etc) are FREE online anyway legally. Not only that but a LOT of music is free and free to stream on sites like LastFm.

True, but lastfm has a contract with the music companies for mutual benefit, as long it's through there, it's not the same as that dude over there putting it on torrent.

 

[deathandtaxes]

Ahoy mateys! I think there is no excuse for it, most like reasons, reasons I normally don't agree with, but in the end it's your call.
Testing something before buying it it's a lame excuse, you won't starve to death for spending 30 bucks on a CD, so, be reasonable and spend the money it costs.

So you think that every time you use someone's copyright you should have to pay royalties why is this only true of commercial media or did you forget that every time you quote someone in school assignments you are using someone copyrighted ideas for your own personal gain.

This is simply a double standard that exists in society it is not about the rule of law or about stealing since in both cases you are not depriving someone of physical property it is a question of compensation for ideas.

Which seems only to exist when the ideas are put into a published medium, while we seem free to quote peoples life's work without paying them a cent. Sure we must acknowledge them but I don't see anyone disputing who owns true blood while torrenting it.

Also note all laws are designed to restrict personal freedoms in attempt to create safety and harmony in society something being the law does not make it right, just, good, effective or indeed logical or sane.

That's a cheap technisism, quoting a part of I don't know, Atlas Shrugged at school or whatever, is not as near as making copies of it in word and giving it for free to everyone who doesn't want to pay for the damn book.

You seem to have failed epically since you don't realise I'm talking about non-fiction works such as for example medical Journal articles which (while the published journal itself you need to pay for) can be read for free anywhere you wish and quoted from essentially using the most important part of someone's work while not paying them a cent.

Of course because you don't seem to grasp that ideas are worth just as much if not more than simple property I don't see why I'm bothering.

 

[Jewrean]

True, but lastfm has a contract with the music companies for mutual benefit, as long it's through there, it's not the same as that dude over there putting it on torrent.

Personally I don't see a difference. The person in question is still listening to the song without actually buying it. In that example if an album can be streamed online anyway then there really isn't any difference.

 

[Piorn]

Let me share a little story...
About a year ago, I bought ME1 for my PC. Everything went fine until it asked me for my registration code. I entered it, only to be asked for it again, and again, and again. Being unable to launch the game, I contacted the support service, who,after letting me wait for one week, gave me useless answers like reinstalling the game (which I , at that point, had already done twice). So what did I do? PIRATE A GAME I ALREADY BOUGHT. Now if that's not a good excuse.

 

[Frungy]

1. DRM. You'll find that most games don't advertise their DRM method on the box or in the online description. I therefore view cracking their DRM as legitimate since I was only informed of it as a condition of the sale AFTER I bought the game, and most games stores have a no return policy (especially online ones). Having a little box pop up when I'm about to install a product I bought saying, "Click to agree to our insane DRM policy" or don't install the game is not legal and is not reasonable, and personally I take the view that at the time when I entered into the contract (i.e. when I bought the game) I believed that I would have reasonable use of the product I bought. Tacking on restrictions like, "You must register the game and disclose your identity" are illegal in my opinion, in fact any requirement that isn't clearly advertised is illegal. If a games company ever tries to sue me for DRM violation they'd better be prepared to be counter-sued for breach of contract, false advertising and whatever else I can pay my legal team to dream up. Starcraft 2 is a good example of a game that did it right, they advertise clearly on the front of the box, "Battle.net registration required". I have no problems with that. It's when you're hit with surprises that I draw the line and go online to find a crack to bypass the nazi-like invasions of my privacy.

2. Availability. I live in Japan, and a lot of stuff just isn't available here and never will be. What I can I order online but sometimes they'll only order the Japanese version, without English. So sometimes I download TV programmes and stuff. I am NOT watching TV in Japanese every day, or within a month I'd be unable to speak English (I already speak Japanese for most of the day, at home I need to remind myself what English sounds like). Books are particularly hard to get hold of, so the same logic applies. I buy a copy if I can find it, but otherwise I download it.

3. Ownership. If I own a game and for some reason my DVD gets scratched (I have a young child in the house who doesn't understand the concept of DVDs and scratches) then I fail to see why I should order a new copy. I own the DVD, I own the box, I have a valid serial number. I download a new copy. End of story.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Personally I don't see a difference. The person in question is still listening to the song without actually buying it. In that example if an album can be streamed online anyway then there really isn't any difference.

Wait, doesn't LastFM, and other streaming sites uses subscriptions for this?

 

[Jewrean]

Legitimate excuses / reasons for 'piracy':

- The property that you payed actual money for does not fulfill its intended purpose as advertised and the support to fix the issue was minimal or not apparent.

- The property in question is in danger of being damaged (ie: Children in the house). You decide to make a personal backup of something you already own. Should you decide to give the game away or sell it then you also need to destroy the copy you made for it to be legal.

- The property can already be accessed or acquired without payment legally.

- The property owners dared you to steal it lol:

 

[deathandtaxes]

1. DRM. You'll find that most games don't advertise their DRM method on the box or in the online description. I therefore view cracking their DRM as legitimate since I was only informed of it as a condition of the sale AFTER I bought the game, and most games stores have a no return policy (especially online ones). Having a little box pop up when I'm about to install a product I bought saying, "Click to agree to our insane DRM policy" or don't install the game is not legal and is not reasonable, and personally I take the view that at the time when I entered into the contract (i.e. when I bought the game) I believed that I would have reasonable use of the product I bought. Tacking on restrictions like, "You must register the game and disclose your identity" are illegal in my opinion, in fact any requirement that isn't clearly advertised is illegal. If a games company ever tries to sue me for DRM violation they'd better be prepared to be counter-sued for breach of contract, false advertising and whatever else I can pay my legal team to dream up. Starcraft 2 is a good example of a game that did it right, they advertise clearly on the front of the box, "Battle.net registration required". I have no problems with that. It's when you're hit with surprises that I draw the line and go online to find a crack to bypass the nazi-like invasions of my privacy.

2. Availability. I live in Japan, and a lot of stuff just isn't available here and never will be. What I can I order online but sometimes they'll only order the Japanese version, without English. So sometimes I download TV programmes and stuff. I am NOT watching TV in Japanese every day, or within a month I'd be unable to speak English (I already speak Japanese for most of the day, at home I need to remind myself what English sounds like). Books are particularly hard to get hold of, so the same logic applies. I buy a copy if I can find it, but otherwise I download it.

3. Ownership. If I own a game and for some reason my DVD gets scratched (I have a young child in the house who doesn't understand the concept of DVDs and scratches) then I fail to see why I should order a new copy. I own the DVD, I own the box, I have a valid serial number. I download a new copy. End of story.

Also the point that many forms of DRM are both spyware and malicious software.

 

[Vainglory]

I only pirate music, first off. i rent movies and games etc if i dont want to buy them.

the music industry is fairly twisted and unfair towards the musicians. most artists get as little as 20c per album sale. I refuse to fund the corporations that are taking the profits of the artist.

On that note, if i listen to music and enjoy it, i may be inclined to purchase band merchandise and see them live, which for me is more fulfilling and also better for the artists.

 

[veloper]

1. If you cannot buy it new in a regular shop or get an unused copy through mailorder or DL it from Steam or Stardock, pirate it.
The people who made it cannot possibly see any money from it anyway. I'm ok with abandonware.

I get the logic behind the try-before-you-buy piracy, but most advocates try what they like indefinitely, or until they get bored with it.

Finally, buying a game and then dling a crack to avoid a copy protection scheme or something else preventing you from playing your game, isn't "piracy" in my book.


2. trash

 

[GBlair88]

I would only download the odd movie to watch, then buy the DVD if I like it.

 

[Jewrean]

Wait, doesn't LastFM, and other streaming sites uses subscriptions for this?

I have an account (which could have been made with 'Freddo Frog' and 'Homer Simpson' for all they care) which was made for free on their website.

However, much of the music on there (especially from Indie artists) have free full-length previews and even track downloads. Many of the songs are on YouTube as well. In fact, Microsoft themselves have released a YouTube video download tool which kind of fucks that all up now doesn't it? It allows you to download ANY video off YouTube. You can then use a FREE video/audio encoder to convert the mkv/flv/wmv video file to an Mp3 or whatever you'd like.

"Actually, YES, it IS legal to download youtube videos, as long as youtube had a legal right to show that video in the first place."
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/682007

According to this, if the video was put up legally then you are allowed to download it legally. And considering most artists have videos of their tracks they have released on YouTube (which they have put up themselves), the world is your Oyster.

If you cannot buy it new in a regular shop or get an unused copy through mailorder or DL it from Steam or Stardock, pirate it.
The people who made it cannot possibly see any money from it anyway. I'm ok with abandonware.

This is a great point. I mean what if you are looking for a very old movie or TV show that quite simply does not exist in stores ANYWHERE. Is it wrong to download it?

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Legally, there is no excuse. Honestly, I've heard some musicians outright say to steal their music if you don't have it already (Tally Hall, Streetlight Manifesto, Renard) because that's a good way to spread it. But legally it doesn't matter what they said personally. It's against the law and that's that. Technically it makes no sense, but that's not what anyone cares about.

 

[Something Amyss]

"It's the law" arguments don't work either. Say it was the law that women can't vote, or blacks no longer are allowed to attend school past primary education.

Thankfully, people actually changed the laws regarding women and blacks. I doubt much will be done in the vein of fighting these laws, in part because piracy is primarily self serving while civil rights are not. Of course, when Martin Luther King broke the law, he still paid the price. Most acts of civil disobedience will result in some form of punishment. And it used to be that people actually paid the price. Now it seems like people want to be martyrs without any of the actual suffering.

Sorry, Charlie.

There are very few exceptions in which the laws regarding piracy are unjust. Most excuses for piracy don't trump the rights of the author or owner. Don't like it? Fine, but that doesn't make it unjust.

 

[Gudrests]

"im just holding it for a friend", "i swear mom its not mine", and of course "everyone else is doing it"

Try thoes....they work very well

 

[teh_Canape]

well, I cant give any excuse without making myself look like a cheap bastard

but come on

look at these prices and tell me if you wouldnt even think about pirating it

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

If I'm pirating something (a game for example), I would've never bought it to begin with. I'm just playing it because I can. If I couldn't pirate it, the alternative wouldn't be buying it from the shop, I just wouldn't buy it and wouldn't play it.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

I have an account (which could have been made with 'Freddo Frog' and 'Homer Simpson' for all they care) which was made for free on their website.

However, much of the music on there (especially from Indie artists) have free full-length previews and even track downloads. Many of the songs are on YouTube as well. In fact, Microsoft themselves have released a YouTube video download tool which kind of fucks that all up now doesn't it? It allows you to download ANY video off YouTube. You can then use a FREE video/audio encoder to convert the mkv/flv/wmv video file to an Mp3 or whatever you'd like.

Well, true enough, but let's agree that Microsoft isn't the best standart for great ideas; about LastFM, I didn't know they were free, but I guess they only care about the traffic and advertises.

"Actually, YES, it IS legal to download youtube videos, as long as youtube had a legal right to show that video in the first place."
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/682007

According to this, if the video was put up legally then you are allowed to download it legally. And considering most artists have videos of their tracks they have released on YouTube (which they have put up themselves), the world is your Oyster.

That's true, but there is a technicism over there quite tricky; because youTube says that all the videos submitted on their network should not break any copyright, or itntellectual property law, and all of this is great, the problem is that if the user submits something he shouldn't have, then there it is, a perfectly legal copyright stolen.

But I agree with all that you said, it's just that I know how any law or rule can be bended by their own terms for smartasses and get away with it. In fact, I don't even care for piracy; but I find idiotic when people try to excuse it like they are doing the right thing.
If they have the guts to download for free, they should have the guts to say "I know I shouldn't but I do" instead of hiding on technicisms.