Can (Internet) Piracy ever be Justified?

[graverobber2]

I just use pirated versions as demo?s
If I like the game, I?ll buy it.
If I don?t like it, [SHIFT+DEL]

Other than that, I sometimes download pirated versions to get rid of the DRM

 

[night_chrono]

Games without demos: you check the pirate version, then you buy the real if you liked it.

Games that suck hard: like asking for a refunded ticket at the theatre.

That is entirely possible if you don't sit through the entire movie. I have a(n asshat of a) friend who regularly goes to shitty movies, watches the first half hour that leaves demanding a refund.

 

[Sikachu]

No. Owning a copy, not being able to own a copy, being poor, owning a broken copy, or anything else doesn't matter.

Entitlement - some people haz it.

Wait what? You think it's unjustifiable to pirate a game that I own (and, for example, is sitting on my desk)? Why?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

No. Owning a copy, not being able to own a copy, being poor, owning a broken copy, or anything else doesn't matter.

Entitlement - some people haz it.

Wait what? You think it's unjustifiable to pirate a game that I own (and, for example, is sitting on my desk)? Why?

Calm down, he was trolling, and has been put on probation for his troubles.

 

[Chris646]

Of course you can.
Doesn't mean that it's right, but obviously you can come up with a justification for it.

 

[xdiesp]

About the motivations: maybe I'm too simplistic, but honestly I think it all comes down to games costing a freaking lot. Every console generation they cost 15$ more, no joke. As long as you're a baby and mom buys the goods for you, that's peach. But later, one has to "moderate" himself.

More than once I've thought how much stupid stuff one could discard from AAA games, that makes developing costs higher. Rolling demos as if we were at the arcade. Commercials everywhere, even drinks. Endless scripted sequences that one doesn't even play (cmon I'd rather watch a real movie). Actor cameos for voices. Fifty hours of recorded dialogue. Motion capture... for dogs!

I genuinely admire devs such as those of Stalker and Portal for coming up with breakthrough games without an unlimited amount of money to waste. See how those games don't have fat to trim? Bare bones, but all of them perfect.

 

[Hive Mind]

No. Owning a copy, not being able to own a copy, being poor, owning a broken copy, or anything else doesn't matter.

Entitlement - some people haz it.

Wait what? You think it's unjustifiable to pirate a game that I own (and, for example, is sitting on my desk)? Why?

I don't make the laws.

Copying your own game is fine. Downloading an illegal copy aint.

Blame the people in power.

 

[Shycte]

Well, yes. It can be. But in most cases it isn't. People are to cheap to pay for it.

 

[Dastardly]

snip

Nope. It can be almost excused, but not justified. There's a tremendous difference.

Stealing to feed my starving children is a noble act, in that I want to feed my children. But this does not justify the act, or make it "right." What about the person I'm stealing from? What about the fact that I'm taking something that belongs to them, and possibly their children? What if they're starving now because I took it?

The act is excusable, from certain points of view, in that people could say, "I see why you did it, and in that situation I may have, too." But it's still wrong. And so it is with piracy.

In most cases, it's just someone stealing something because they don't want to pay, for whatever reason. They'll craft any number of excuses that seem to explain why they "shouldn't" pay for it, or they'll just say they can't pay. (Normally, when people don't like the price of a product, or they can't afford a product, they find another product.)

There are a few cases (unavailable game, broken CD and no replacement policy, etc.) in which I could work to understand someone's reasons, and even perhaps sympathize with them. But even in those cases, it is what it is--taking something that doesn't belong to you and to which you have no entitlement whatsoever. So, it's wrong.

Excuses don't make for justifications.

 

[Rocking Thunder]

The only time it could be justified is if you already own the game on consoles, and then I think it is fair to pirate it for other consoles/pc

 

[JochemDude]

Double Post
*Shakes his fist at his internet connection*

 

[The Stonker]

First of all, piracy is stealing.
Get over that fact.
Now, is there a situation where stealing is right?
Well, yes, for instance for a greater cause (I like to call it Robin Hood) or for a cause for instance if a file could save somebody and you would share it among alot of people to keep it "safe".

But in 99.9% of all situations of piracy then it's not defandable, you're stealing someones elses work.

 

[tahrey]

I don't know about "justified"

But in some cases it could certainly be "safely ignored", i.e. those who may otherwise choose to prosecute under the letter of the law can instead turn a blind eye with no harm being done.

For example, downloading a copy of a brilliant film or TV show long since released in another region when the makers have "no plans to", or refuse to release it in your region and the locks are damn near impossible to circumvent (itself a MPAA offence anyway) and/or importing it is hellishly expensive... I've done that a few times, and, once the film makers cottoned on to how many people were saying "can we haz?" (and turning to piracy when told "no") and actually released the damn thing in my market, actually bought it after.

Or a record/book that's out of print... old games that are effectively abandonware as they're not being sold in any (recognisable/usable) form any more, and certainly not in the format you're downloading (or again, region locked/rare as all hell). It's not that you're doing it to avoid paying for the content, or even that you're too broke to do it (but somehow get free internetz), but that there isn't even a way to do that any more.

 

[Joker7]

Yes. If a company is ripping off consumers then turn about is fair play.

 

[eljawa]

well...sure. You arent really hurting anyone except for large corporations. The individual artists were already paid and make very little money through actual sales. idk if thats the case with video games, but piracy allows independent films to get wider distribution than ever before possible while stopping the cashflow of shit movies. Buying albums doesnt help muscians, going to concerts does. So yeah, it can be justified. especially when they charge so fucking much to see some shitty movie

Justified? The whole point is to say "fuck you" to the establishment. In theory, anyways. It's like, piracy will always encourage publishers and developers to offer better distribution methods, but since it will never be perfect, there's always going to be piracy.

The whole point of the denomination "piracy" is that it's illegal. "Filesharing" on the other hand is a different matter.

It stops being piracy if it starts being legal.

*applauds* exactly

 

[Pyotr Romanov]

This is kind of tough, because anyone under the age of 40 who says they've never pirated anything in their life is a liar.

Oh hi there. What's it like being psychic and knowing everything? Must be weird, being able to make such claims and know you're right.

Okay, so it's hyperbole. Very, very slight hyperbole.

Edit: Also, you mean to tell me that you have never once:

Downloaded a movie
Downloaded an episode of a TV show
Downloaded an MP3
Downloaded a videogame
borrowed and made a copy of a CD
Borrowed and made a copy of a videogame
Borrowed and ripped a CD
Borrowed and installed a DRM free videogame
Or
Made a mix tape?

Might as well add "reinstall a game you 'own' game on a new computer" to that list. Yeah...

 

[JochemDude]

This is always such a though moral thing, I mean I work in the music industry and yes we notice it a lot. You see all that music that we hate, it's mainly because that is a safe way of making money. There is no room for larger artist to innovate anymore it's just too risky. Only small independent labels can do that.

I do think piracy is to blame for it, but it takes effort from both sides to change that. Prices need to go down if we ever want to see that changing, if people find it expensive they will try to find other ways to get it and I can't blame them for that. Before it can change, even 'cheap' people should find it cheap enough to go out and buy it. Which is the main problem, because now it's free for them. Customer support people, customer support those people can possibly be motivated if they get a special treatment with it. I once tried that with a little dutch band who had just made a album, I suggested to put a nice flag with the band logo in the CD package. I think if people could get like small and Non-digital goodies with it, a lot more people would actually go out and buy it.

 

[JUSTINtimeforalaugh]

Of course it is justifiable. Everyone has to justify these things or they would break their moral codes. They each have a reason for doing it, like not having money, or wanting to "support big business's crushing america's little people" and so on. Everything that anyone does, they have to be able to validate it, at least enough to let it get past their conscience.

 

[Dys]

If you legally own a copy of the game, film or music then yes, it absolutely can be justified. I pay for a game/album/film, not for the bullshit DRM they package with it. If I choose to circumvent the DRM I never agreed to have installed on my machine to begin with, I damn well will and I see no logic to the arguments of those who say otherwise.

Oh, and it depends on what you strictly call piracy. Is it piracy if I modify my internet connection so it appears I'm in another country and purchase media at their lower price? Because, again, robbing the publishers of their "I fucking hate you Australia" bonus is completely justifiable, or at least every bit as justifiable as legit importing the product.

Making a mix tape is not piracy. The license you get when you buy your music entitles you to as many backup copies as you care to make. The minute you start handing out mix tapes to people is where the line is crossed.

I uh, think that some morally reprehensible thieving bastards have made mix tapes off of radio recordings, and have then gone on to distribute those tapes to friends. Some assholes even do the same thing with televised media, recording it to VHS or HDD, usually distributing it (often over the internet) to their peers.

 

[Kair]

It is very short-sighted to believe free distribution of information is wrong.

Despite the education, the western world is still full of imbeciles. Though there is hope. When there is better education, there seems to be less imbeciles and the degree of imbecility is lower. This must be why the United States is full of imbeciles.