Why does everybody seem to hate pirates?

[MrTub]

alot of ppl seems to think that you steal money by dl something but youre NOT stealing real money, you are just simply "stealing" the estimated money that movie/Game is supposed to bring in. Lets say you download a movie that looked like crap and it would probly suck but you find out its accualy pretty good then you might pay for sequels if it has any. Well I do admit that piracy could be wrong but Im not paying 50£ for a game that sucks, if its good I will probly buy it. Feel free to flame.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

it would almost be better if you referred to them as what they are and that is a thief.

i mean if you say "oh there's some piracy going on" it sounds nice compared to say "oh look there's some theft going on"

if you keep saying piracy it softens it a bit and makes it sound ok but calling them thieves makes it a bit less ok sounding

It's okay if you stagmatise piracy and antagonize the pirates, but don't call 'em thieves. That's like me refering to a baker as a wheat farmer, I'm arguing semantics here.

If you don't think pirate is a negative enough word, why not find something else to call 'em?

no it's not like referring to a baker as a wheat farmer at all. it's a thief and nothing more, even real pirates were thieves, so instead of calling a pirate a thief is a very appropriate.

it's a great way to stigmatize them and really call them what they are

 

[Low Key]

Like a baby, serious like snes and sega emulators should be public domain at this point. Discontinued production means there are no more expected profits anyway so it even further into the grey zone of infringement law.

True, and that's why a lot of rom sites can still distribute old games. Unfortunately some are still protected like old Madden games and Mortal Kombat. I've looked.

 

[Epitome]

Like a baby, serious like snes and sega emulators should be public domain at this point. Discontinued production means there are no more expected profits anyway so it even further into the grey zone of infringement law.

True, and that's why a lot of rom sites can still distribute old games. Unfortunately some are still protected like old Madden games and Mortal Kombat. I've looked.

Yeah MK spawned a genre, its a historical icon amongst games, the birth of mainstream violence in games. It shouldnt be allowed to dissappear because its creaters are finished with uses for it.

 

[Contun]

The Pirates we see in movies, the heroic, dashing rogues I can look up to, the thieving pirates of real life I have little respect for...

 

[Biosophilogical]

Ok first up, does it count as piracy if you just like, let's say, download a song with no intention of making a profit on it or putting it up so others can download it too??? If it is then I would be quite surprised cause I know very few people who buy the cd's for all the songs they have. And if the downloading of something is piracy what about GBA emulators and stuff as it is quite hard (if not impossible) to come by the games you are looking for, so the company wouldn't make a profit on it anyway. Or is it wrong if you intend to buy it later when you have money but you want to make sure that it is worth the effort???

 

[Biosophilogical]

I don't think people would be so tempted to pirate if games weren't so rediculously priced. 40 £ for Bioshock, now? Seriously.

I know, expensive (game wise) used to mean like fifty dollars (Australian money) and even things on the playstation and things were maxed out in the low eighties, yet instead of dropping the last-gen console games and just marketing the new-gen consoles for eighty dollars, they are now in the 100's per game. I think it is a bit ridiculous that people pay $120 for a game when you used to be able to get two for the same price and even they had better battle-systems and storylines than some of these games. The only thing new games really have over the older ones is graphics (except scribblenauts but that still looks like a bucket-load of fun!!!)

EDIT: woops two posts in a row

 

[Coldsnap]

I only get annoyed at people who dress up their pirating as some sort of heroic thing their doing to stick it to companies for whatever reason.

If you want to send a message you just don't buy their product; video games and other entertainment are a luxury, not something you have a right to take for free.

 

[Trilby_V]

So I herd yu liek mudkipz?

 

[Snotnarok]

There might be less pirates if the creators of games didn't put DRM that limits installs and slows your machine down. I would have bought Riddick, and Prototype but they both have DRM in them, so I'm waiting for a price drop for the 360 versions instead. I don't like being screwed over and when I'm TRYING to support the developer it makes it that much harder.

 

[Emphraim]

you are taking money away from people who would otherwise earn it from your purchase of the product, therefore it's theft and NOT copying

you are doing the same thing and trying to lighten what is actually happening, they are taking away profits from people, therefore they are stealing

Again though you catch22 here. The pirate was never going to purchase the product, wants it only because it is free, therefore you are not depriving of profit because there would never have been a sale. So it remains copyright infringement and not theft.

I would just like to say that some pirates(me) buy games as long as they don't have any DRM at all. I have bought almost every Stardock game so far.

If no game had DRM, I would probably not pirate all all(at least not games. I need to get my anime somehow). The only real reason why I pirate is because I'm paranoid about computer security and performance and don't want some hidden program sending data about my computer and slowing it down.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

Ok first up, does it count as piracy if you just like, let's say, download a song with no intention of making a profit on it or putting it up so others can download it too??? If it is then I would be quite surprised cause I know very few people who buy the cd's for all the songs they have. And if the downloading of something is piracy what about GBA emulators and stuff as it is quite hard (if not impossible) to come by the games you are looking for, so the company wouldn't make a profit on it anyway. Or is it wrong if you intend to buy it later when you have money but you want to make sure that it is worth the effort???

actually it is piracy and illegal and has been tested and proven in court

 

[Biosophilogical]

Ok first up, does it count as piracy if you just like, let's say, download a song with no intention of making a profit on it or putting it up so others can download it too??? If it is then I would be quite surprised cause I know very few people who buy the cd's for all the songs they have. And if the downloading of something is piracy what about GBA emulators and stuff as it is quite hard (if not impossible) to come by the games you are looking for, so the company wouldn't make a profit on it anyway. Or is it wrong if you intend to buy it later when you have money but you want to make sure that it is worth the effort???

actually it is piracy and illegal and has been tested and proven in court

I don't mean in court, the Law is normally quite flawed and therefore I don't trust it on issues of ethics BUUUTTT do people (Morally) think it is wrong (emphasis on morally, derived from the word 'morl' meaning that if you say anything about the Law the God of Revenge Against Silly People will smite you in a horribly ironic way) to use downloading for a free-trial before you commit your money to something???

 

[theultimateend]

it would almost be better if you referred to them as what they are and that is a thief.

i mean if you say "oh there's some piracy going on" it sounds nice compared to say "oh look there's some theft going on"

if you keep saying piracy it softens it a bit and makes it sound ok but calling them thieves makes it a bit less ok sounding

Yes because stealing a car from a dealership is the same as stealing data.

Oh wait...

They call it piracy because they are very much different. In one case you are not only stealing time but physical property that can NEVER be sold.

In the other case you are stealing time and creating the data yourself with your own data factory.

What it comes down to is people losing the time they spent making the games. If we want to make stealing time illegal then anytime folks cause traffic jams they should each be fined for stealing time from each others days.

The money aspect of it is different as well. Your copying of the data does not stop an actual buyer from buying it. Do you think that if people stop pirating that game sales will go up? If so I'm going to need to have you checked into a home.

If Piracy is ever defeated the people who pirated will just cease the games all together and find a new medium for entertainment. Nothing gets better except for the sting to the egos of company owners.

I don't like to see anyone making a quality product and having it stolen. But I'd like to see one example of a company actually providing quality products on a consistent basis and not making more money than 30 or so small nations. Exceptions being indie developers who seem to be doing fine as well, at least the guys behind World of Goo didn't seem like they were crumbling when I chatted with them via email.

Ok first up, does it count as piracy if you just like, let's say, download a song with no intention of making a profit on it or putting it up so others can download it too??? If it is then I would be quite surprised cause I know very few people who buy the cd's for all the songs they have. And if the downloading of something is piracy what about GBA emulators and stuff as it is quite hard (if not impossible) to come by the games you are looking for, so the company wouldn't make a profit on it anyway. Or is it wrong if you intend to buy it later when you have money but you want to make sure that it is worth the effort???

actually it is piracy and illegal and has been tested and proven in court

Just like how heresy was proven in court to be punishable by death? Or wait...we are playing the game where the law is never fallible right?

 

[Epitome]

you are taking money away from people who would otherwise earn it from your purchase of the product, therefore it's theft and NOT copying

you are doing the same thing and trying to lighten what is actually happening, they are taking away profits from people, therefore they are stealing

Again though you catch22 here. The pirate was never going to purchase the product, wants it only because it is free, therefore you are not depriving of profit because there would never have been a sale. So it remains copyright infringement and not theft.

I would just like to say that some pirates(me) buy games as long as they don't have any DRM at all. I have bought almost every Stardock game so far.

If no game had DRM, I would probably not pirate all all(at least not games. I need to get my anime somehow). The only real reason why I pirate is because I'm paranoid about computer security and performance and don't want some hidden program sending data about my computer and slowing it down.

Not just you, SONY pulled a real Dick move with their hidden rootkit on cd's, I mean if you cant trust the real thing not to dick with your system what can you do to feed the habit?

 

[Lazy Kitty]

It's not like they're gonna stop piracy unless they're willing to outlaw every form of computer technology and kill everyone who uses it...

 

[ace_of_something]

The same reason we hate all other thieves?

Cuz they're thieves.

 

[Epitome]

The same reason we hate all other thieves?

Cuz they're thieves.

Okay that doesnt help the debate, thats just close minded regurgitation of what you think you should be saying. What about the differences between piracy and theft, the fact its only aganst the law because of media interests, that in many countrys downloading for private use is illegal and a thriving music,games etc industry still remains. You have an opinion fine but please expand on it or dont talk. Not half assed spelled one lines please.