I'm an American living abroad in a country where DVDs, CDs and other media cost at least twice as much as in the US. I'm trying my best to learn the local language, but I still need those things for my sanity. Piracy is pretty much essential in my situation to know what in the hell anyone back at home is talking about. But I still don't do it a lot. I'm mostly either playing video games or out and about actually exploring the country, and even when I'm watching stuff like movies and TV shows, I'm watching subbed versions of local programming, and that's what I mostly pirate. Usually I do delete stuff right after I watch it too, though.
As to whether or not I think it's wrong, to me it depends on the media. I can see where it can be wrong mostly with music. There are such things as the iTunes store, Last.fm and so on, where you can purchase the songs you want for a reasonable price, and in many cases, less than a hard copy. You can still make a hard copy from it as a backup. In my mind, there's not much of an excuse to pirate music, and I have only done so when I really could not find a way to listen to it legally when I wanted. I don't pirate books at all. Never have, never will. That's what things like libraries and Amazon are for. If you can't find a book you want at a reasonable cost, you're just not looking hard enough, or you're probably not going to find a way to pirate it either. Most often I pirate movies and TV shows, and especially with TV, I can see a bit more justification for it. I mean, what is taping a show to watch later, but a sanctioned version of piracy? You have the luxury of fast-forwarding through the advertisements so that you don't have to watch them, and you get to keep the copy forever to watch when you want. Just like a pirated TV show. So that copy you got off the internet didn't come straight from the original broadcast, you're still watching it as if you had taped it for later. I really have to hand it to the creators of many Comedy Central shows for understanding this and offering people the opportunity to view their shows on their websites after they air. It's a bold step that I think will eventually become the future. As for movies, I avoid pirating taped movies in the theater because I do believe that is 100 percent wrong. If you want to see a movie, go to the theater and support it. If it won't come to your theater until second run, oh well, you'll just have to wait. Life goes on if you can't see it in its first weekend. With DVDs, though, I have only pirated movies if I could not rent them, and that's only been while I am here abroad. I can't drive here, there's no rental shops within walking distance, and services such as Netflix and XBox movies aren't supported here. It's really the only way I can see those movies without having to buy the DVD at a ridiculously high price. I only pirate movies out of necessity, and delete them right away afterwards.
I will stop when I leave this country back to the US, where it will be easier to watch what I want to watch legally at a reasonable price.
As to whether or not I think it's wrong, to me it depends on the media. I can see where it can be wrong mostly with music. There are such things as the iTunes store, Last.fm and so on, where you can purchase the songs you want for a reasonable price, and in many cases, less than a hard copy. You can still make a hard copy from it as a backup. In my mind, there's not much of an excuse to pirate music, and I have only done so when I really could not find a way to listen to it legally when I wanted. I don't pirate books at all. Never have, never will. That's what things like libraries and Amazon are for. If you can't find a book you want at a reasonable cost, you're just not looking hard enough, or you're probably not going to find a way to pirate it either. Most often I pirate movies and TV shows, and especially with TV, I can see a bit more justification for it. I mean, what is taping a show to watch later, but a sanctioned version of piracy? You have the luxury of fast-forwarding through the advertisements so that you don't have to watch them, and you get to keep the copy forever to watch when you want. Just like a pirated TV show. So that copy you got off the internet didn't come straight from the original broadcast, you're still watching it as if you had taped it for later. I really have to hand it to the creators of many Comedy Central shows for understanding this and offering people the opportunity to view their shows on their websites after they air. It's a bold step that I think will eventually become the future. As for movies, I avoid pirating taped movies in the theater because I do believe that is 100 percent wrong. If you want to see a movie, go to the theater and support it. If it won't come to your theater until second run, oh well, you'll just have to wait. Life goes on if you can't see it in its first weekend. With DVDs, though, I have only pirated movies if I could not rent them, and that's only been while I am here abroad. I can't drive here, there's no rental shops within walking distance, and services such as Netflix and XBox movies aren't supported here. It's really the only way I can see those movies without having to buy the DVD at a ridiculously high price. I only pirate movies out of necessity, and delete them right away afterwards.
I will stop when I leave this country back to the US, where it will be easier to watch what I want to watch legally at a reasonable price.
