Poll: Piracy dilema kind-of

[gideonkain]

I recently purchased a game and it would not start up the only way to make it work was to download a exe that wasn't from the developer, then it suddenly worked - games I buy don't work and I need the userbase to fix it for me.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

I'm sure Mumford and Sons is on Itunes. Just do that. Or you could use a Youtube to MP3 converter and convert all the songs with it, which isn't illegal (I do it for certain songs when I don't feel like buying an entire album for the one; such as "Fire Brigade" by The Move and "Little Green Rosetta" from Frank Zappa). Lastly, you could simply buy the album a 3rd time and back it up on the Computer As soon as you get home. Pirating would be the last thing I'd recommend you do.

 

[locoartero]

Move to belgium. Over here downloading is technicly not illegal. As long as you don't sell your downloads and/or give them to other people.

It's some stupid law really. Because here it is ok to tape something that is on TV. As long as you watch whatever you taped in your own home.

There are no anti-piracy laws here and so... Downloading falls under the same law as the TV thing. Stupid I know but there you have it .

PS: I do not support internet piracy and sorry for the bad spelling. I blame my education.

Same in Argentina. Except we get a good education. In fact, since piracy is legal here, people sell blu-rays and dvds on the streets and we have created a site called Cuevana (google it, won't post link) that's kind of a free Netflix for everyone that doesn't rely on megavideo and the likes but on storing a caché of a DD.
In fact, if you want a legal copy of a game or a console without a modchip, you have to go a long way or import, since game stores here will sell you pirated copies (I'm fucking serious) and modchipped consoles.

 

[Bruenin]

Yus!
It really shouldn't be outlawed, you bought the disc and the data on it... you're allowed to download it to your computer and you've already contributed your money. Why should they stop you from redownloading the disc. it won't ever be because companies are greedy but still, I think you're morally ok.

 

[kouriichi]

I see nothing wrong with it. You payed for the product, you have a right to it. Unless you signed a contract saying "This is my one and only copy unless i purchase another", its completely acceptable for you to download it.

If you never purchased it to begin with, then id see a problem. But since youve owned it AT LEAST once, your completely fine to download, and enjoy your time with it

 

[babinro]

Well it's still illegal to pirate. Your situation is not one that grants you permission to circumvent the law. It sucks that you forgot to backup your property, but why should that suddenly become the fault and loss of the band or it's publishers rightful profits?

Perhaps if you write a kind letter to the band they'll give you a free CD or consent to pirate in this one instance.

 

[targren]

Well, when we discuss these things I assume we are going by the laws of the US, since those are the ones the forum rules mention. Downloading music without uploading it isnt illegal where I live either, but then again, a lot of unspeakable acts are legal in many countries so... Is it really relevant?

Not half as irrelevant as whether or not something is illegal in relation to its morality. Plenty of immoral things are perfectly legal (and in some cases, apparently sacred), and plenty of completely harmless things are illegal.

One has nothing to do with the other and the OP didn't ask about the legality of it.

 

[Something Amyss]

Give up on the album, it's obviously cursed. /silly

I had that problem with the movie Super Troopers.

 

[Apollo45]

So I get a pack of bubblegum from the store. My friend wanted some gum, I let them borrow it. They ate it all.

It gets worse. I get another pack of bubblegum, the same brand that I so freaking love, from the store again. Some jerk-off breaks into my car, takes the coffee that was in my cup holder, takes my loose change in the little dashboard box, and my second packet of bubblegum is gone.

Now, would it be okay, since I bought the bubblegum twice now, if I went and took some for free? Even if I got it from someone else who took it for free?


If the cd is less-than-new, you should be able to grab it online new for relatively nothing by now. And besides, if you pirate it, you don't get the pleasure of holding the nifty album cover art and case in your hand.

If you like the music, buying it again will directly support the people that wrote and performed that music. In fact, if those people have a website, buy it direct from the source to tell them that you fully appreciate what they did to make your day.

And this time, make a copy of the CD you buy so you will not have such an unfortunate dilemma again. Call it a lesson learned. I'm quite shocked that you took out the time to acquire a digital copy of all your other music, but somehow didn't do the same for this CD that you repeatedly state you love and enjoy.

Difference is that bubblegum is a physical, tangible object that is limited to being said tangible object. That pack of bubblegum, specifically that pack, cost the company money to produce, package, and ship.

The music, on the other hand, isn't tangible. It's a piece of data floating around on the internet. It cost money to produce initially, but once it hits the internet it doesn't cost the developers (in this case the band and the publishers) anything to keep making more of it, and as a consumer you can listen to it all you want. That's where your analogy falls apart, unfortunately.

Now, to pirate the thing initially is obviously morally wrong as well as illegal. You don't support anyone, and in essence it is like stealing said pack of bubblegum. What the OP is proposing doing, however, is fundamentally different. He's already paid for the music not once but twice. The first time was his mistake, and if it were just that I would say buy it again. The second time, however, isn't his fault. It's the fault of some pricks who decided that they would not only physically steal an object that was someone else's, but also damage other property in the process. In that case, so long as the insurance company didn't give you enough money to purchase a new copy of the music in addition to everything else, I see it as morally justified to download a new album.

As many people have said, however, it's also illegal. Because of that, I can't officially support it. Officially. But I'll bet you can guess what my vote was.

 

[Grog289]

I would say its fine, just make sure you go to a Mumford and Sons concert, concerts are where bands make most of their money, They get very little from a CD sale. Also Mumford and Sons are some of the best performers I've ever seen and more than worth the price of admission

 

[manic_depressive13]

I recently purchased a game and it would not start up, I tried everything for days and eventually hit up the forums - at the bottom of one thread (which after this post ceased all conversation) was a guy who said "Listen, I know I'm gonna get banned for this but I don't care - if your game won't load past this certain screen (which it wouldn't) d/l this cracked exe, the problem is in the way the game is supposed to go through a handshake with the developers server" (DRM)

So he really did get banned? What a hero T_T

OT: I wouldn't judge you for pirating it.

 

[Viridian]

I knew a guy who pirated a game. I asked him why. You know what he said?

"I wanted it."

There isn't really any justification that isn't subjective and debatable. So the question: Do you want it enough to pirate it? Regardless of the collective wisdom of your peers, you'll do what you want, in the end.

 

[Yopaz]

By our law it's legal to download music if you own or have paid for a physical copy of it. Also who does it hurt? You have in fact paid for an album twice so it's not like the artist will starve because of you. They're more likely to starve ebcause they got an evil record company that hogs all their money.

 

[RatRace123]

I'd say you should be able to do it legally, or at the very least steal it back from the jerk who stole it from you.

As it stands, I wouldn't begrudge you if you did it.

 

[strykr]

No, its not.

What you are doing is still copyright infringement. Its piracy.

Just download the fucking album if you feel you need to and dont if you dont. Just please refrain from opening these threads, because honestly, what do we get out of it? Is it acceptable? Jesus, I have absolutely no problem with pirates. I do have a problem with pirates who need to justify every single download and come up with 5000 excuses, and then, to top it, open the 5 billionth "Is copyright infringement ok if I..." thread.

Sir/madam, I only got round to reading this thread dis-morning. So I'm sorry I couldn't respond to this earlier.

I asked you for an opinion, that was the point of this thread. It allowed me to base my own moral judgement of that of otherwise, a standard atypical response to any moral dilemma is that we subjugate ourselves to our peers for evaluation and comment. This allows us to develop morals and principles in line with social convention. That is why I posed a simple question which other posters were happy to engage in.

You however have decided to engage in an entirely inappropriate manner. That is that you decided to responded in a typical pretentious artistic **** manner. That is to say you decided to step outside of the subject manner and look at this in an overall view in relation to the forum you endeavour in using.

I didn't ask for a general comment as an overview comment, and I don't particularly enjoy people placing themselves on a pedestal to look down there nose and judge what they feel to be suitable content manner, when there is nothing inherently wrong, vulgar, or vile with said content.

If you don't feel this thread warranted your time, don't comment. If I was a store owner and you wandered into my shop and started telling me my clothing range is no different than the other stores you know what I'd tell you? Then go some place else you twat.

So to sum up. I feel your comment was a waste of time, and was an attempt on your behalf to drop some bile on the internet. I hope you'll refrain from doing this in the future, because it doesn't give you an air of intellect and advanced reasoning I cannot comprehend, it gives you the air of being both precocious and elitist.

Yes I have somewhat taken this too far out of turn, but please re-read your comment and evaluate how you come across, because it does irritate me, and it would no doubt do the same to others. Thank-you.

nope that guy was right, chill out brahhh
then again who gives a fuck about "piracy"? the term is flawed from the beginning. it would be just as bad to have a friend burn a copy of the cd for you so why do you care? either way it's sharing and if you like the music you like it and the artists/label should be happy XD

 

[Maze1125]

Heres what matters: in the eyes of the law, its copyright infringement. "Well I bought it once 3 years ago but list it" wont ever hold up in court, and thats the way it should be, for extremely obvious reasons.

I disagree. Show me one single case that has been successfully won by the plaintive, where the defendant had only downloaded albums they had already paid for by some other means.

Not only would that defence hold up in court, no record company would be foolish enough to try and sue over it.

 

[strykr]

Long story short. I bought the Mumford & Sons album a while back when it was new, I left it at a friends and thought, oh bugger, I have no longer got any contact with him. A while on I remembered how much I liked that album and bought it again. Unfortunately my car was broken into recently and they took my radio and all my CD's.

It was one of a very few albums I hadn't backed up on my laptop.

So the poll question, is it acceptable if I download that album?

I guess I just want to use the collective morality of the internet to back a decision I want to do. So yeah, cheers for your input.

Oh also sorry for another piracy thread.

its a shame but things like that just happen. you have to deal with it.

you should better buy the album again, maybe the price is now reduced.
this way you can support your favorite band.( at least a little)

because if you get caught and you have no physical copy of the album, you're going to have a very hard time no matter what you say to defend yourself.

and a copy just doesn't beat a good album with booklets and cover, plus it keeps a bit of its valor.

so buy the album and lay some claymores around to never lose it again.

what are you talking about with the "if you get caught and you have no physical copy of the album, you're going to have a very hard time no matter what you say to defend yourself"? the cd got broken when you dropped it on the ground? what kind of stupid point are you trying to make? nice grammar by the way

 

[MasochisticAvenger]

In other words, you want a bunch of random people on the internet to justify something you know is wrong so you can sleep easier at night. Buying a CD/DVD/Video Game doesn't mean you own the content on the disc; it just means you own that one copy. Yes, it sucks you've had to buy the same CD twice and have nothing to show for it, but maybe that just means you need to take better care of your stuff.

 

[Dense_Electric]

Just because I bought a book once doesn't entitle me to go get a brand new copy of that book whenever I want, even if I lost the first one.

/facepalm

He's not suggesting walking into the store and walking out with a new copy of the album without paying for it. Because what you just said is the direct equivalent of that.

Buying a CD/DVD/Video Game doesn't mean you own the content on the disc; it just means you own that one copy.

Wrong. What it gives you is the right to access that content whenever, where ever you please. Perhaps not legally, but ethically. What we're talking about is making sure the people who create content are compensated for their work. If they've already been compensated for a piece of content, you're square with them.

@ OP - if you already bought it, you're fine. If you bought it twice, you're more than fine.

 

[Xorph]

Fine by me. At one point I had a semi-similar situation.
I bought Fallout Nev Vegas brand new for the Xbox, and bought the first 2 dlcs.
About half a year later I got my gaming PC and bought New Vegas for that too. AND I bought one of the dlcs again.
After paying for the game twice and paying for 3 dlcs I just downloaded the 3 I didn't have on PC yet.
So, far as I'm concerned, if you've already paid for it twice the creators have already gotten your money twice, so just downloading it seems fine