No, it's pretty much just the "free stuff" angle. I mean, it's free stuff. What more do you want? Shut up. Whatever it is, you can't have it. You know why? Because you already got free stuff. Stop complaining.
Poll: Do People Pirate Because it's Free? Or is There Something More to it?
- Thread starter Skorpyo
- Start date
I suppose your point could be applied to cooking as well, right? The cow took X number of months to grow as did the vegetables. All the time and energy people devoted to making the food-stuffs super market friendly would equal all the hours it took to make that movie. The time spent cooking would be the money. This all has nothing to do with what I want to say. I pirate things I can't find and don't feel remorse because it's the same as a friend sharing something with you. When people pirate things, the original had to have been paid for. Nothing is completely free.Sturmdolch said:
I think there is alot more to it.
To view Piracy as an individual selfish act makes sense until you look at the bigger picture. Sure, someone may be downloading an album for selfish means, but how would one describe the motives of the thousands of people that have UPLOADED the album. Surely an individual that receives nothing for uploading can be called selfish. (NOT JUSTIFYING IT!) Author Clay Shirky in his book Cognitive Surplus describes the motivation of this person. The book describes us as the "people formally known as the audience". We are no longer the consumer but have taken an active role in the production, distribution, and consumption of media (blogs, youtube, forums, facebook, and torrents).
It is not selfishness that drives the uploader and by proxy the pirate, but instead a sense of community. A digital all for one and one for all. Studies have shown that people do not trust/respect the entertainment industry, even less than insurance and pharmaceutical companies. This distrust/dislike for the industry is fueled by the 'criminalization of the populace' and stricter DRM policies.
Despite your views on the ethics of piracy it is something that is now ingrained into our social structure more now than ever. For better or worse, Piracy has caused media to evolve. Would we have ITunes without Napster? Would we have legitimate streaming TV shows and movies without Torrents?
To view Piracy as an individual selfish act makes sense until you look at the bigger picture. Sure, someone may be downloading an album for selfish means, but how would one describe the motives of the thousands of people that have UPLOADED the album. Surely an individual that receives nothing for uploading can be called selfish. (NOT JUSTIFYING IT!) Author Clay Shirky in his book Cognitive Surplus describes the motivation of this person. The book describes us as the "people formally known as the audience". We are no longer the consumer but have taken an active role in the production, distribution, and consumption of media (blogs, youtube, forums, facebook, and torrents).
It is not selfishness that drives the uploader and by proxy the pirate, but instead a sense of community. A digital all for one and one for all. Studies have shown that people do not trust/respect the entertainment industry, even less than insurance and pharmaceutical companies. This distrust/dislike for the industry is fueled by the 'criminalization of the populace' and stricter DRM policies.
Despite your views on the ethics of piracy it is something that is now ingrained into our social structure more now than ever. For better or worse, Piracy has caused media to evolve. Would we have ITunes without Napster? Would we have legitimate streaming TV shows and movies without Torrents?
Down here in Argentina pirating is almost culturally accepted.
We have very little support from gaming companies, and we're expected to pay four times the standard since our coin is highly devalued (plus a rather bullshity 50% import tax on anything related to technology). So yeah, few people are willing to pay $240+ for a game down here, and it has reached the point where I can walk into stores and see folks selling pirated games as a pretty normal activity.
That said, many people down here actually support Steam since digital distribution allows us to bypass importing and it's much more cost acceptable due to their promotions and whatnot.
We have very little support from gaming companies, and we're expected to pay four times the standard since our coin is highly devalued (plus a rather bullshity 50% import tax on anything related to technology). So yeah, few people are willing to pay $240+ for a game down here, and it has reached the point where I can walk into stores and see folks selling pirated games as a pretty normal activity.
That said, many people down here actually support Steam since digital distribution allows us to bypass importing and it's much more cost acceptable due to their promotions and whatnot.
its easy, free, and i have access to any film i want. that would be why.
however 75% of my film library i have already seen in cinema, or had on dvd before losing it or breaking it. i dont feel theres anything wrong with downloading something you have paid for in a roundabout way before. i know its not ideal but what can you do?
also looking through my library again the films i hadnt seen or owned before i have since bought or ordered on blu ray, whereas had i not pirated them i may not have bought them.
however 75% of my film library i have already seen in cinema, or had on dvd before losing it or breaking it. i dont feel theres anything wrong with downloading something you have paid for in a roundabout way before. i know its not ideal but what can you do?
also looking through my library again the films i hadnt seen or owned before i have since bought or ordered on blu ray, whereas had i not pirated them i may not have bought them.
- Because it's free
- Because they paid for something that didn't work and feel entitled to it
- Because something isn't reasonably available
- Quicker than buying and are lazeh
- Hold a grudge against a particular company
- Want to demo a game before buying it
Those are all/most of the reasons.
- Because they paid for something that didn't work and feel entitled to it
- Because something isn't reasonably available
- Quicker than buying and are lazeh
- Hold a grudge against a particular company
- Want to demo a game before buying it
Those are all/most of the reasons.
As I've said before I've done it with many games because the publisher didn't provide a demo for the PC version so I'm stuck with a 50-60 dollar game that might/might not be able to run on my computer A 50-60 dollar game that I cannot demo,return,exchange, making it either a good game or unplayable, something I don't figure is worth the risk. I download it, play the first level, if the game rawks my sawks I buy it, otherwise I dump it and move on.
Gears of War, Crysis, Farcry 2, Command and Conquer 3, Doom 3, Modern Warefare 2 all these games I grabbed online to try, then bought. Yes, they're on my shelf legit versions, all of them. NONE of these games had a demo at the time and had high requirements that were crazy at the times they came out.
Sometimes pirating is good other times it's bad.
Gears of War, Crysis, Farcry 2, Command and Conquer 3, Doom 3, Modern Warefare 2 all these games I grabbed online to try, then bought. Yes, they're on my shelf legit versions, all of them. NONE of these games had a demo at the time and had high requirements that were crazy at the times they came out.
Sometimes pirating is good other times it's bad.
http://cristgaming.com/pirate.swf
OT: I believe most do it for free media. However, even if the ability to get said material for free wasn't readily available, that doesn't necessarily mean that they would pay for it anyway.
(By the way, you may want to turn down your speakers if you decide to click the link.)
OT: I believe most do it for free media. However, even if the ability to get said material for free wasn't readily available, that doesn't necessarily mean that they would pay for it anyway.
(By the way, you may want to turn down your speakers if you decide to click the link.)
Just for the challenge or the cred. Sometimes to protest certain companies. The more insane the DRM, the more people will pirate it, even if they won't play it. Sometimes, when we get a new DRM, people pirate it because they want to crack it. There's serious credibility for being able to crack a new DRM. Sometimes people just don't want to fork over money or go to the store at that moment. People are lazy.
It's like paying the tip to the barber. If he cuts your hair extremely well, you'll give him something personally for his service. If he's mediocre, you just pay for the cut and go. Either way, you're still going to get your hair cut. (And before anyone asks, yes, where I live, tipping at the barber shop is usual. We usually give $5 to the barber and $3 to the washing lady, because their service is simply fantastic. I can't imagine getting my hair cut anywhere else.)
It's like paying the tip to the barber. If he cuts your hair extremely well, you'll give him something personally for his service. If he's mediocre, you just pay for the cut and go. Either way, you're still going to get your hair cut. (And before anyone asks, yes, where I live, tipping at the barber shop is usual. We usually give $5 to the barber and $3 to the washing lady, because their service is simply fantastic. I can't imagine getting my hair cut anywhere else.)
Well, Its hard to justify piracy. However I know in the past I have paid LOT of good money over the years for media that simply wasnt worth the paper it was printed on. As such I can understand where someone who has done that might get fed up with shelling out cash on the hope it will be good only to be repeatedly let down.
Part of the piracy issue might also stem from major corporations changing their return policies over the years regarding media. You buy a game get 30 min into it and realize it is an absolute steaming pile, its not like you can return it to the store for a refund, because its been opened. Then what is your alternative? selling a game you just paid full price for back to a resale store like gamestop for a fraction of what you just shelled out?
Then there is the whole "its not available here" and the "you cant buy it anymore" points.
Fact is, yes piracy is bad. However it is not as simple as "FREE!!!110101lol" And honestly, the respective industries have made this gigantic deal about it, when its really not hurting them nearly as much as they want to be honest about. Really, to assume that every pirated copy of whatever IS a sale that the developers are entitled to? No. Because if there was no means of piracy the people who are doing it to get it free, likely wouldnt have bought the media in the first place.
OT: Now that I think about it, that actually upsets me seeings as the gaming industry is hellbent on getting rid of the resell market. With the determination the industry has been pursing this by cramming things like digital distribution down our throats its possible the resell market may well evaporate. Then when developers put out a gigantic toilet log and try to pass it off as quality, what legal recourse does one have if there is no resell market?
Part of the piracy issue might also stem from major corporations changing their return policies over the years regarding media. You buy a game get 30 min into it and realize it is an absolute steaming pile, its not like you can return it to the store for a refund, because its been opened. Then what is your alternative? selling a game you just paid full price for back to a resale store like gamestop for a fraction of what you just shelled out?
Then there is the whole "its not available here" and the "you cant buy it anymore" points.
Fact is, yes piracy is bad. However it is not as simple as "FREE!!!110101lol" And honestly, the respective industries have made this gigantic deal about it, when its really not hurting them nearly as much as they want to be honest about. Really, to assume that every pirated copy of whatever IS a sale that the developers are entitled to? No. Because if there was no means of piracy the people who are doing it to get it free, likely wouldnt have bought the media in the first place.
OT: Now that I think about it, that actually upsets me seeings as the gaming industry is hellbent on getting rid of the resell market. With the determination the industry has been pursing this by cramming things like digital distribution down our throats its possible the resell market may well evaporate. Then when developers put out a gigantic toilet log and try to pass it off as quality, what legal recourse does one have if there is no resell market?
People pirate it cause its free, and to stick it to the man. Its like the South Park episode where some britney spears cant afford a golden fountain because of pirating...they have enough money lol.
Oh and some people pirate games to see if they are good and then buy them when they like it
Oh and some people pirate games to see if they are good and then buy them when they like it
All the good stuff I've pirated, I've bought, some times multiple times.Johnnyallstar said:
My steam accounts are currently worth just over 1100 dollars (combining my 2 accounts).
And steam only covers a quarter or so of my stuff. From my personal experience with my friends that I know that pirate, we typically buy more then people who don't.
We still pirate, and I won't deny that, but ultimately we spend more.
I'm not going to argue ethics or any of that crap, as god forbid I put a different point of view on this website. Fuck, I won't be surprised if I get reported/probated/suspended just because I admitted to pirating.
Um... if you had to pay five bucks for every torrent or torrent series, would you bother?
That should answer your question.
That should answer your question.
Piracy is stealing, and stealing is wrong.
However, I believe what you steal depends on how "in the wrong" you are, and I believe piracy is less bad than stealing something irl. I'll use music as an example. People often say "you wouldn't steal a BMW, so why would you download a song without paying for it"? Well first off buddy, a BMW is a $30,000+ item, a song is worth 99 cents, not even.
Secondly, there is an infinite supply of things you get from piracy. There are no pirates that take something and someone is left without it; it's just a new copy being made. Do the creators deserve some money? Sure. But I promise you Rihanna will survive if some kids download her new single instead of paying for it, while most people continue to pay for it.
By the way, the day I can create a copy of a BMW is the day I steal a BMW.
However, I believe what you steal depends on how "in the wrong" you are, and I believe piracy is less bad than stealing something irl. I'll use music as an example. People often say "you wouldn't steal a BMW, so why would you download a song without paying for it"? Well first off buddy, a BMW is a $30,000+ item, a song is worth 99 cents, not even.
Secondly, there is an infinite supply of things you get from piracy. There are no pirates that take something and someone is left without it; it's just a new copy being made. Do the creators deserve some money? Sure. But I promise you Rihanna will survive if some kids download her new single instead of paying for it, while most people continue to pay for it.
By the way, the day I can create a copy of a BMW is the day I steal a BMW.
