Poll: Piracy. Good, or bad?

[Major_Sam]

I find downloading a movies/songs/games for your own private use too common to be counted as a punishable crime. But when you make many copies and sell them for a huge profit, that's when I think something should be done about it.

I'm gonna have to agree with Sam here.
I also think pirates should recieve lighter sentences if they dress talk and act like real pirates. For example...

Spoiler: Male

Spoiler: Female

I'm going to agree with the cap'n here with the lighter sentences for people acting like real pirates. Actually...can we all dress up and act like pirates just for the hell of it? Come on, we've all downloaded something before.

But back on topic, there is a huge difference between downloading something for free for just yourself with no money involved and selling copies to make money. There will always be people buying geniune copies so the music/film/game industry won't die.

To me, buying a geniune copy is good, downloading the neutral aspect while selling is the naughty part. (If I'm not making sense, I'm tired and sorry)

 

[Utarefson]

If you go to buy a banana you have 3 options:
1.Pay the price the bananas cost.
2.Decide that you don't want to spend that much money and go buy apples.
3.Steal them when no one looks.
And that's definitively a crime.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

I find downloading a movies/songs/games for your own private use too common to be counted as a punishable crime. But when you make many copies and sell them for a huge profit, that's when I think something should be done about it.

I'm gonna have to agree with Sam here.
I also think pirates should recieve lighter sentences if they dress talk and act like real pirates. For example...

Spoiler: Male

Spoiler: Female

I'm going to agree with the cap'n here with the lighter sentences for people acting like real pirates. Actually...can we all dress up and act like pirates just for the hell of it? Come on, we've all downloaded something before.

But back on topic, there is a huge difference between downloading something for free for just yourself with no money involved and selling copies to make money. There will always be people buying geniune copies so the music/film/game industry won't die.

I'm one of those people buying genuine copies. I'll pirate 1 or 2 songs to see if I like a band then go out and buy a CD if I do like them. I don't pirate games or films as it'll take a while and I'm lazy.

Is it wrong that I have a pirate costume that fits, somewhere in my house?

 

[pdgeorge]

I just realized something... *is bloody slow*

Picture Yahtzee, with zero punctuation... He gets paid by the escapist to make the videos, they are made, put on the internet, they don't see any extra money for any time it is viewed (of course it has to get views or it just simply wouldn't work) how does Yahtzee make money? MERCHENDISE, stuff like that.

Record companies for music originally were in a place "You either buy this cd or you don't get anything!", now people can say "I didn't buy it but I have it anyway ner ner" They then go out and buy merch for the band if they love it, they buy the cd's if they feel so compelled (I know owning the cd is worth it sometimes just... because) and then they spend something along the lines of 100-200$ to see them perform live.
The NEED to buy has gone, they just need to give people a reason to buy (IE: the cd looks kool, comes with a poster, movies: DVD has extra content etc. Games: keep upgrading the game, adding extra features, release GOOD GAMES and people will buy them) Theres countless ways to encourage people to buy. Screaming and crying like a little baby if people don't buy your stuff isn't going to endear yourself to the customer, it's only going to drive them away.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I download when:

a) it's too old to buy/see/listen to legally.
b) I can't get demo version or there is no demo version.
c) I have no ability to get it in my country.
d) I already own it.

Btw, search is your friend.

This, only I limit the games I download to those that don't sell new. Nothing to do with morality or justifying myself, I just don't game with the "current gen" because I prefer to buy 10 PS2 games for $10 or whatever. The deals on used games are insane. Why would I ever pay $60 for a single game when I could buy something like 15 games with that same amount of money?

I'll buy a new game if it's a reasonable price, though. I bought King of Fighters: '98 Ultimate Match new because it was released at the fair price of $20 and was made by a company I feel deserves some support.

 

[TheBarefootBandit]

I concur with wear pirates suits.

Anyway for the piracy issue itself. There's the argument of not profiting off it through resale (downloading for personal use). But you're still avoiding loss by downloading it anyway.

As for downloading movies and games, I'm too impatient and it takes an age (for me). I just get friends to suggest tunes and you can find'em on the internet then we'll see.

As long as there's a way to download there 'will' be a will to.

 

[Jordan_17]

For me it depends on the game. If you were to download a brand new game, lets say the sims 3, that would be a really serious crime. But if you were to download a playstation 1 game or a really old pc game, I think thats fine because the money wouldn't go to the developers or whatever, it would just go to the store.

I think it's a touchy subject and everyone has different opinions.

Just my two pence.

 

[searanox]

Piracy on a large scale is a serious crime and I generally condemn any significant acts of piracy done by any individual. I'd generally like to consider minor file sharing akin to the same as lending a copy to a friend, but we all know that it goes on on a large scale between complete strangers 24 hours a day around the entire world. The bad news is that the media and entertainment industry generally wants you to pay for absolutely everything, and is even against casual file sharing between friends, much less sharing of original physical distribution media like CDs and DVDs. I think the entertainment industry as a whole needs to realise that they can't control everything people do with the things they buy, and stop trying to restrict use for things people they are naturally entitled to (like sharing music with friends, for example).

On the other hand, there is essentially the "I want free shit" side to it, which is what fuels the vast majority of large-scale sharing/piracy, and that sort of thinking needs to change. I've written more on that matter below:

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034157533&postcount=25
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034161409&postcount=43

 

[TheBarefootBandit]

Piracy on a large scale is a serious crime and I generally condemn any significant acts of piracy done by any individual. I'd generally like to consider minor file sharing akin to the same as lending a copy to a friend, but we all know that it goes on on a large scale between complete strangers 24 hours a day around the entire world. The bad news is that the media and entertainment industry generally wants you to pay for absolutely everything, and is even against casual file sharing between friends, much less sharing of original physical distribution media like CDs and DVDs. I think the entertainment industry as a whole needs to realise that they can't control everything people do with the things they buy, and stop trying to restrict use for things people they are naturally entitled to (like sharing music with friends, for example).

On the other hand, there is essentially the "I want free shit" side to it, which is what fuels the vast majority of large-scale sharing/piracy, and that sort of thinking needs to change. I've written more on that matter below:

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034157533&postcount=25
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034161409&postcount=43

I don't think anyone will put it in better terms than you (bows down in awe).

 

[Pentarch]

I wouldn't mind paying for games if they weren't so ridiculously expensive, for example i was in my local video store and was browsing the games the have for sale and i noticed that they had a copy of High school musical for $50 (aus) on the NDS. I'm sorry but that IS not worth $50. I think that's why so much pirating exists is because of the expense.

 

[Osalot_TH]

If you saw a nice car in your neighbors driveway, and you wanted a car like that, and all you had to do was click a button and you would get that car, and your neighbors car would still be in his driveway. What's wrong with that? It's not stealing.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

If you saw a nice car in your neighbors driveway, and you wanted a car like that, and all you had to do was click a button and you would get that car, and your neighbors car would still be in his driveway. What's wrong with that? It's not stealing.

What if someone made a living designing cars? You'd be ripping off their design for free.

Either listen to public domain "cars" that are produced with the intent of you listening to them for free (there are lots of good artists who work pro bono), or buy one. Our creative industries are kind of important now, since we're moving away from manufacturing.

 

[lenin_117]

There is nothing morally wrong with it. There are economic problems because of pirates.

If you saw a nice car in your neighbors driveway, and you wanted a car like that, and all you had to do was click a button and you would get that car, and your neighbors car would still be in his driveway. What's wrong with that? It's not stealing.

The problem with that is then it's not economically viable to sell cars if no-one pays for them. The auto industry shuts down then when you need a newer car, it doesn't exist.

 

[TheEvilDuck]

I download when:

a) it's too old to buy/see/listen to legally.
b) I can't get demo version or there is no demo version.
c) I have no ability to get it in my country.
d) I already own it.

C is a good point. The Cowboy Bebop soundtrack is some of the most incredible music from any show EVER but in order to have it shipped from Japan the cost will run up somewhere near 75-80 bucks.

Also, I pirate usually only when I want to listen/watch/etc. before buying, like someone told me to check out this band but I'm not sure about them. If I like them I'll buy it legally if not no money wasted. I'll also do it if I can't find it legally. There are some bands and things that are too obscure to actually find on iTunes so it's piracy to the rescue. XD

 

[TelHybrid]

It depends...

If it's a new game still on the market brand new, then piracy of that game would be harmful, and is unnacceptable.

If it's an old game that's not been rereleased on a current platform (mainly ROMs) then piracy doesn't exactly harm the industry... as the company doesn't lose profit on lack of sales of second hand old games...

 

[Kruxxor]

To be honest, majority of my music collection i've downloaded illegally. My reason being is that I can't buy this music in my country.

I live in the UK and I listen to Japanese Rock and Pop, as well as game soundtracks. No matter what store I go into I can be guaranteed that they won't stock what I listen to. My only option is to buy it from amazon.co.jp and spend about £40 on getting the CD delivered from Japan to my door. Why should I have to pay over £50 for a single album just because my tastes are different to that of the majority of the UK?

I have downloaded games illegally, again, mainly because I can't get them anywhere (GBA and SNES games that were never released in the UK)

I have downloaded other games which I CAN get in this country, but only to Demo them. For instance I have The Sims 3 and I do plan on buying it on the 5th of June.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Okay, seriously, I'm getting sick of threads that talk about Piracy. Piracy is a thing that's bad for the developers and publishers, yet it's good for the consumers.

Piracy was never much of a big deal. It's been around since God knows how long, and even to this day, it still exists, yet the people that make the games/movies/music/other media are still getting cash for what they make. Piracy is only good when YOU think that the people that make them deserve your money or not. Otherwise, pirating something for the sake of piracy rather than punishment is a dick-move.

It's now with the Economic Crisis that this happens to be a big deal. Normal equation for how piracy spins out of control is this:

People get laid off => People get scared shitless about losing jobs => People blame companies=> People try to save money => People turn to Piracy => People save money => People save money=People happy => Company loses money=> Company scared shitless=> DRM Measures=> Rage at DRM Measures=> MORE PIRACY=> Less Sales=> Less money=> Bankruptcy/Lay offs.

Repeat Add Nausea

If companies hadn't over reacted and if the people hadn't just remained calm, none of this would have happened. Piracy is a vicious circle that we and the companies have helped to create, and the best thing to do is to live with it, because we have NO ONE to blame but ourselves.

 

[A.A.K]

i think its good but only to a very fine point, if i bought a game, and i made a copy for a mate, i see nothing wrong with that-im just helping him out. but if i bought a game-made copies-and just sold em to anyone that asked, thats bad.

 

[searanox]

I don't think anyone will put it in better terms than you (bows down in awe).

Your respect is somewhat unwarranted, but still appreciated. Never cease exercising and employing your mind.