Poll: Is it piracy when you already own the material?

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Conza

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Nov 7, 2010
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Hello all, I'm currently on holiday and the other day I really wanted to re-watch one of my favourite shows. I own all of the box sets for the show, but naturally, they aren't with me.

If we were in circa 1995 or earlier, I'd have to wait... But, the current day allows me to utilize the internet and simply find, download and watch the show.

Was this piracy to do so? I understand that some of you will find it hard to isolate the act from the situation, but all opinions are valid, so the poll I set up is for just this question.
I justified it to myself under the guise of 'well, since I've paid them $150-$200 worth of box sets when the show was airing, I've contributed, I'm not robbing the actors, studios, ect.'. However, it's arguable that since I acquired these materials il-legally, I'm still supporting piracy of the content.

Should anything of a similar nature also be classified piracy? Another example, I have a Nintendo 64, with several games all gathering dust. I've read, somewhere a long time ago from a forgotten/probably questionable source, that if I owned the original game, I'm not doing anything wrong by owning a 'virtual back up' of it, and playing it on my computer.

There are more examples, but from another angle, I want to put out there something perhaps even more morally blurry.

With the N64 example, let's say that everyone agreed if I owned 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time', that downloading and playing it is ok. But what if my brother or sister owned the game? Or even a cousin, or good friend. But I know that they would not have emulated it, or played it in years, so, is it ok for me to still download the game rationalizing 'well, I'm just using their currently unused licence anyway, so really its ok'?

This is my first topic, so I hope it sparks a bit of discussion, there were similar topics about piracy, but they weren't quite what I wanted to talk about - so have fun :).
 

Distazo

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Feb 25, 2009
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I don't think so, but that is a pretty slippery slope a lot of times. If you stay strictly to what you own already I really don't see any of the harm in it. Where I feel it crosses the line are things that you are either planning on buying or things that you would have bought if you had the opportunity. For me, it started with the first one, like you and then evolved to the point where I could mentally justify pirating anything so be watchful for that transistion.

BTW: Very good first post, I enjoyed thinking about it.
 

Glamorgan

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Aug 16, 2009
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Uh, I dont think it is, but don't quote me on it. Even if it is, noone would blame you for doing that. You already paid for it, and you shouldn't have to rebuy it to watch it.

As for an acquaintance downloading a game you own, then yes, it is Piracy. You might lend it to them, but they don't actually have any reason to justify them downloading it.
 

Scout Tactical

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Jun 23, 2010
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Conor Wainer said:
It's piracy either way, but it's a question of whether or not it's BAD piracy. I think Extra Credits hit the nail on the head. If you CAN'T get it anymore (like, for instance, I bet you'd be hard pressed to find a functional OOT copy lying around), then pirate away.

Your initial question is harder, but I think if you paid for it, pirating it is just like digitally backing it up, like games on Steam. I don't think it should be shared with friends, though.
 
Aug 25, 2009
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If you were to rate acts of piracy based on how wrong they were, this would probably be the least wrong after 'copying the files to your computer for your own personal use'

The issue comes from if you might think 'well I know I'm going to buy the boxsets for this show in the future, so I'll just pirate them until they're released.' Then you might be tempted to not spend the money, and you're well on your way to full blown piracy.
 

Conza

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Nov 7, 2010
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Thanks Crimson Assassin!

Glamorgan, just to let you know the poll was just for the first question, the rest of it are just thoughts and examples.
 

Smooth Operator

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Oct 5, 2010
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Well technically it is still piracy and illegal(you can be prosecuted for it), but morally it is all good in my books.

You just haveto remember that laws are not flexible to new ideas, they are an absolute(unless you got lots of money or a good lawyer).
 

Biosophilogical

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Jul 8, 2009
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I'm not sure on the legalities of it, so I'll interpret it as "Does it carry the same moral ambiguity that normal piracy does?" My answer: No.
 

Stasisesque

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Nov 25, 2008
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I answered no because I'm full of self doubt.

In the grand scheme of things, yes it is piracy. You've already paid once for the content, true, but in an incredibly flimsy DVD-extra argument, you'd not take the content from a store and use the same argument to get away with it. It also encourages piracy, which is rather what those who oppose it are trying to stop. If no one pirated, there'd be no piracy yadda yadda.

You're hardly in the right for doing it, but I doubt many would judge you.
 

Mr.Numbers

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Jan 15, 2011
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There are three types of things I pirate:

THings I already own but are damaged

Things I can't get anymore (And twice I have mailed the cost of the game to the original founder of the game since I enjoyed the game so much (Evil Genius being one))

And I eventually moved on to things I would consider buying. This may sound like bad pirating but I use it like a demo. This is why I have not bought Sims 3, but DID buy Darkest of Days.

Everything else I will buy, and I will not pirate if I can't afford it.
 

Mr Pantomime

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Jul 10, 2010
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I was thinking about something similar today. If you bought a game, say, Crash Team Racing, on PS1. Now, you want to play it on your PSP, but you already own it. Is it ok to download it rather than buying it off the Playstation Store? I already own the game, why do I have to pay for it twice?

Also, what if the game was broken? Is it ok to download it then? Technically you still own the license.

As for your question, its kinda shaky. I mean, if left them behind, but you still own them, its probably ok.However if other people are using these boxsets, thats where it gets tricky.
 

Nova Helix

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Mar 17, 2010
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I don't see a problem with it. They got your money to watch it.
As far a legalness of it, there is no way a state is going to waste the money on chasing you. People get in trouble when they download huge sums of pirated stuff.
 

Conza

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Nov 7, 2010
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Ah, now that raises an interesting point Mr Pantomime, simultaneous useage of a single licience. I think it's ok, on the basis that if you bought a movie and had a friend over to watch it, you are both using the licience at the same time, so, if you were both watching the same movie in different rooms, is there really any difference?

Anyway - ~4/5 think it's ok to do this by the polls, at the moment.

PS "Any difference, that makes no difference, is no difference." Dr. Daniel Graystone, Caprica.
 

Bobbity

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Mar 17, 2010
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I don't think so. I found a piracy site for books once, but the only time I actually picked up a book that I didn't already possess, I had a massive conscience attack and went out and bought it the next day. I don't that what we're doing is morally wrong, but on the legal side of things it's a pretty slippery slope.
 

V8 Ninja

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May 15, 2010
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Technically yes, if you pirate something you own, you are doing something illegal. But really, no one is going to think about it too much to care and I find it justifiable.
 

TRR

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Jul 21, 2008
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When you install the Playstation emulator ePSXe, it tells you that it is illegal to run this program unless you actually own a Playstation. I always found that interesting.

BTW I do own a Playstation.
 

deth2munkies

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Jan 28, 2009
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Yeah, it's piracy, but I can and do do it anyway. Especially if the game in question is either lost (FFVIII PC version disc 3) or damaged (Alpha Centauri disc). Copyright law is one big clusterfuck nowadays so it's not hard to come up with very good and justified reasons to ignore it.