Do you pirate? And do you justify pirating? i.e., what is your piracy philosophy?

Ganesh Venugopal@lemmy.ml to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 358 points –

Well, my friend, he's kinda poor he can't afford some books and some streaming services, so he pirates. He pirate books, audiobook and videos and other stuff. Sometimes he buys books he likes a lot out of loyalty to the author (yeah, I don't understand it either), he likes to read physical books, but yeah, if he hates the author or just wants to skim through it, he will download the book.

He usually doesn't like to pirate from small companies or professors who are trying to make a living by selling books, but from millionaires & plenty of mega corps which already have loads of money, he feels like it's the right move to pirate

Also, have you ever noticed that you have felt that the value of a product has decreased just because you didn't pay for it, thus you are less interested to read it? i.e., had you paid for the book, you would have more likely read that book.

He says he will buy stuff when his time is more valuable than money, let's all hope that day is soon.

What are your piracy habits?

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So you pirate it and donate the normal price to the author directly, right?

When I was in university, I watched a movie online using alternative means that I had been kind of interested in, but never went to see. I then watched it again. Then I went out and bought a DVD.

A little after that, I watched a lets play of a game that basically gave the entire experience in a single watch. I liked the game enough that I bought it immediately and just let it sit on my steam library without an install, just so the creator would receive their dues.

A year or so ago, I got a game through a charity bundle and wound up playing hundreds of hours of it. Since the creators got no money from my purchase, I bought merch, and waited for DLC to come out for me to buy instantly, just so they'd get something from me.

Recently, a AAA studio let go a bunch of creators while their game was wrapping up, essentially punishing them for a job well done. The creators will get nothing if I buy the game they made, but the studio that screwed them over will get everything. Just like I always have, I will give as much as they deserve to receive.

I did the same with Chernobyl. Originally watched it with my friends password, but I liked it so much I bought the steel book 4k. If I hadn't had that shared password they wouldn't have gotten any money out of me

Sometimes, when it's particularly impactful. But you can save your shaming for somebody who cares about your opinion. The fact that you've given me more attention than anybody with the power to change things shows where your allegiance lies.

I don't know what you mean by "allegiance", you were talking about ethics and that authors don't get what they deserve. Your problem was not compensation itself but that some people that you don't think deserve it get a bigger cut than you're comfortable with.

It logically follows that in this frame of mind the ethical thing to do is to cut out the middle man and compensate the original author for their work directly.

I don't know what kind of box you put me into based on one sentence but not everyone is out to get you who doesn't 100% agree with you. This is why civil discussion is not possible online anymore.

The problem is that pirates are mostly full of shit. They just don't want to pay. It's that simple. Everything else is an attempt to rationalize.

Not completely true. Are there shot pirates yes, just like there are shit uploaders that think it’s fun to bundle a computer virus with downloadable content.

If it’s something new, like a new book or movie, I will pay for it. The movies/shows I pirate are old and mostly out of circulation, unless they are streaming on some service. I pay for those so their is monetary transactions.

For example, I just recently spent 2 days downloading CHiPs original tv series, even with my high speed broadband it was that slow because there aren’t that many people offering it. Took me 3 days to find it to dl.

Not all piracy is bad. New stuff, ok not cool. But older stuff that has had a good run, the loss of revenue to creator/publisher is so minimal that they won’t feel it.

I’m an ethical pirate, if I think it’s worth watching over and over again I’ll buy it, if it’s available. I won’t pirate software or books.

I have kindle for reading and there is nothing new worth downloading software wise, plus I use linux on my computer, so all my software is free anyway, and if I can’t donate financially I find other ways to help. I’m not a big gamer and when I do game it’s on console, so I do pay for that.

You want to criticize my protest and waste my time, but when was the last time you sent an email to an elected official?

I'm not some kind of activist set out to undermine your movement, I asked a question. This is an online forum where anyone can comment, if you feel like it's wasting your time then don't answer.

when was the last time you sent an email to an elected official?

Last time? A few months ago when a chinese company wanted to build a chemical distribution center in my district.