Poll: Piracy: Your thoughts?

[Spyre2000]

This is much in the same way as you are allowed to make backup copies of software for personal use as in simply put them on other disk but they are not in "use" on some other machine. Or at least that's how it use to be as last I heard on that issue they were actually criminalizing that, in fact I heard a law they were trying to pass pretty much made it a felony to make a mixed tape and give it to your significant other. Don't know if it ever passed.

But just shows the lengths of stupidity they are going to in order to fight piracy and since most people cloud the issue with insults aimed at either the pirates or the large companies rather then addressing the real issue.

There is an article here on escapist which I'll link below and in it the author equates DRM being like getting strip searched every time you leave Wal-Mart to be sure you didn't steal anything. And I think this is right on target. Companies think nothing of treating all their customers as potential criminals by limiting access to software they paid for or requiring them to prove they purchased it by going online for some form of validation or online connection to use the software.

This is all leading more and more to the inevitable day when all your software is directly linked to your online account with a supposedly justified monthly fee because of the cost of maintaining the servers. And where if you say or doing anything that upsets the company they can simply revoke all access to your software and your official shut down. EA recently admitted they could already do this with some of their games being tied to the same name as your forum account. Though they "claim" they would never do this (yea right!). It's like the old saying goes, "Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely." I forget who said it or the exact words but there is another saying that goes something like this, "Tyranny of corporations is just as dangerous as Tyranny of governments."

If you don't think companies will bring that kind of power to bear in an attempt to silence decentors go watch the movie "The Insider". The Tobacco companies put pressure on 60 minutes not air the special which exposed they were trying to make cigarettes more adictive and so they weren't going to until it was leaked that their journalistic integrity had been compromised so they aired it to save face. Censorship on the net is popping up all over the net with profit as the prime motivation and that's just as bad as if it were being done for ideological reasons. And they are using piracy as an excuse to do it. Go watch this video about the coming end to youtube as we know it, and ironically it's on youtube . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V025E_b5I4g&feature=related
Also watch this one on the who Viacom & Youtube incident if you weren't already aware of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbCWJNQUYI&feature=related

 

[Kirra]

I pirate stuff quite often but only because games in my country are released a month or maybe even a year after the release date. If the game was good i will buy it (I still haven't opened my copy of Bioshock, only played with my pirated copy.) if it was not then i probably won't even finish it. Also i have no way to pay for games that you can only buy over the internet since i don't even have a bank account.

Oh and games don't take long to download usually just 1 hour.

 

[GruntOwner]

I pirate if It's unavailable or if the legal method of acquisition absurd. One particular band I was unable to find tracks for, them being small in France and me living in the middle of nowhere in a realm where only mainstream is available. The likes of Amazon for downloads and shizz are not an ideal solution given the amount of time required due my bandwidth not being worth the money. I don't pirate games unless they're old. Painfully, impossible to find in the shops, old.

 

[Wicky_42]

I feel fine pirating TV - I mean, some services offer TV for free after it shows, so why shouldn't I be able to watch it when I want? Also with shows that are released later here, or even not at all - my source of anime, Heroes and BSG (seriously, why should the US get to see it before everywhere else?) If even the owning companies are fine with putting the files up for download, why shouldn't I stream it at my leisure? What's more, why should hulu discriminate against me just because I don't live in the UK? The internet's international, dipshits - wake up and get with the next millennium.

Games is a different matter in many ways though - TV makes all its money through advertising n contracts n what-not, whilst games rely on each sale for their revenue. However, by not releasing good demos, skimping on quality gameplay and story, releasing incomplete software (patch it to make it playable? I think not sir), and introducing frustrating or draconian anti-piracy measures the industry is scoring an own-goal.

I was fine with CD Keys, I was fine with having to register the key to play online. I was fine with Steam (unobtrusive, auto update, works even offline). However, DoW 2 requiring a Windows Live ID AND Steam?! And only working if I have an internet connection??! Empire TW installing through Steam even though I went out and bought the box? Limited installs of my legitimately purchased software? All of which could be circumvented by finding pirated software?

I haven't yet pirated and kept a game because of these measures, but a pirated Spore saved me a ton of cash on a shallow, short-lived game. I'm inclined to pirate Mirror's Edge because they didn't see fit to release a PC demo and people are conflicted on whether it's any good or not, and it's apparently a very short game (6 hrs for £30?! I think not...)

 

[vxicepickxv]

Pretty much the only reason I pirate anything is because it's not available at the time, and I plan to pick it up later, or delete it. I actually pirated an old PS1 game just because I don't want to pay 100 dollars for it, when a possible replacement for the PSP is on the horizon.

I've pirated a few CDs because I couldn't get them at the time, and when they later came in the mail, I deleted them from my computer, and the put them onto my PC, DRM free. Go figure.

 

[z121231211]

I pretty much only pirate anime, music and the Sims 2 expansion packs... and Seasons of House.

I don't really approve of Piracy, but I don't really care either.

 

[HomeBoyGourd]

Most of the games I 'pirate' are from dead developpers who sunk before I even reached the level of maturity to start playing said games. That and I 'pirate' games I feel don't deserve to be bought. (As the creators of the franchises are typically bought out or have the rights sold against their will, and anything I spend on purchasing it won't go to the team that created what I loved but would ultimately further the console/franchise-monopolyzing hate machine that eats away at the soul of the industry.)

 

[hopeneverdies]

If its an old release.
Or if Japan knows we'd want to play it, Mother 3 fan translators, thank you

 

[taloz]

Yes i pirate. I do so with both movies and games.Usually if the game has decent online play then i buy it. Sometimes i do it just because the games drm annoys me. I have very little remorse for pirating movies seeing as i could borrow the dvd's from a friend, but do try to do it less often with games.

 

[TitaniumBlue]

Some of the reasons given for piracy are pretty self-righteous. I too pirate, because it's fast, convenient and easy. At the same time I think that the developers of games have full right to their income. Regardless of what any of us think, every field of industry out there exist for the purpose of generating profit. Sales have to cover wages of artists, designers, programmers. Loss of income is effectively killing small companies. If you're pirating games you could have bought, it should be weight on your conscience.

It's time for companies to look into mirror: at this age of cheaper-than-ever hard drive space, high speed Internet connections and convenience needs, no one in their right mind is going to buy retail box with DVD, installation limits and other handicaps. This is selling old technology and it's not going to work.

 

[Inverse Skies]

Piracy is a massive movement of its own now which we've all dipped into at some stage or other. That being said, I do quite like the idea of the Pirate Bay being found guilty, as it will be very interesting to see the outcome of such a trial.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I fully advocate piracy of products that aren't being sold online or in retail anymore. I especially approve of it when greedy corporate assholes try to outsmart pirates with anti-piracy bullshit that only hurts legit buyers and not the pirates (remember Spore!)

But piracy for profit must so definitely be a jailtime-worthy offense worldwide.

And no, those Somalian pirates can go fuck themselves.

 

[sanomaton]

I play pirated games all the time actually. My friend has saved over 1000 ? by pirating these games for Wii. So lol, the other day I was gaming Tenchu: Shadow Assassins 6 hours straight and my friend was sitting on the computer. Then she sees this article that said something about Tenchu not being released in Finland until x.x.2009 - and I was already gaming it. (Though I like that game so frekkin' much that I may have to buy the real thing when I get myself a Wii)

Tbh though I don't pirate games myself, just movies and music. µTorrent is the program I use and I'm loving it.

 

[zebrin]

Reading through this topic, I have seen three major groups.
1)Active Pirates, who torrent Actively sold items(music and games that are being sold right now)
2)Inactive Pirates, who torrent discontinued or otherwise unavailable things(Snes games, old movies, ect.)
3)Non-Pirates, who don't pirate anything.

I fall a little in between 1 and 2. I refuse to download many new things, preferring to buy it when it comes out, but am not adverse to doing so when the marketing team puts an outrageous price-tag on it.
However, old stuff that I have owned before, and can't find for less then $100 anywhere, when it is just a click away? I think I will go for the click, thank you very much.
Oh, and I refuse to pirate from stardock, the fact that they refused to put DRM on their game was great P.R. I bought Sins, and I love it.
Well... that is where I stand...