To the people who don't pirate: Is life really so bad?

[Nomad]

If you had no intention of paying them, yet you take what they made. That's stealing because you took property without being allowed to do so.

What property did I take? The software? No. The person I downloaded from still has his, noone lost their copy of it. The profit? No. They never had my money in the first place, and again - "You can't lose what you don't have". It's like saying you just stole my car. In what way? Well, I'm just assuming you were going to give me your car, and since you didn't, you clearly stole it from me.

Just like they just assume I was going to give them my money, and since I didn't, I clearly stole it from them.

 

[speedcoreXdandy]

Not having entertainment Vs having entertainment.

I know which I prefer, yo ho ho is all I'm going to say.

But seriously pretty much all of my money goes into buying CDs and DVDs which are the only things I'll pirate anyway so basicaly I'll buy everything I can up to a point then download what I can't afford. Arguably I'm doing more harm to games developers than musicians or directors because something like 90% of my games collection (Which I have purchased with my hard earned cash) is second hand.

 

[Starnerf]

I used to pirate, but now I have a job that allows for disposable income. I really wish i hadn't pirated in the past, since I now feel very guilty about it (though I have now bought most of the games I pirated). I have no issue with waiting a month or so for a game to come down in price before I buy it. Or I try the demo and if I like it, I buy it. Piracy is only justifiable if you own a copy that no longer works, since you did purchase a license to use that product. I have no sympathy for people who pirate due to lack of funds.

And copyright infringement is considered theft of intellectual property. It's not larceny, which is taking something with intent to deprive its rightful owner.

 

[Jursa]

I only "pirate" stuff that I couldn't get otherwise. For example, fansubs aren't exactly legal, but if it weren't for them I'd have to wait half a year for someone to put it into a season dvd and sub it, which really doesn't fit my "IT'S BEEN OUT FOR 3 MINUTES AND I HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET?!" personality.

 

[Clemenstation]

I just don't quite see how its easier to live with knowing that you've stolen a game than to just go without.
Now, to my fellow non-pirates, is your life really that miserable because you have to go without, or paid for what you have?

It's all in how you frame the problem to yourself. Is it really 'go without or steal'? Just because you see the situation as a binary doesn't mean that others do too.

I agree, however, that people who pirate usually go a little overboard. They load up on tons of stuff. But then, is it really piracy at all, if you haven't deprived someone of their property (since it's a copy, as someone pointed out) and you've never really PLAYED the games you've arguably 'stolen'? It's just sitting there on a disc, and oftentimes only gets booted up to ensure that it actually works.

I haven't pirated a game in a good long while, but I remember having stacks of disks of ripped games. I barely played any of them. They were all recursive rip-offs, and I would've palmslapped my own face if I had actually paid money for 'em. In the end I would've been better off just going without, but this way I actually KNEW.

 

[Terramax]

I've had to go without Farcry 2, Mirror's Edge, Mass Effect (I could've got that for £5 new) and Bioshock for the PC due to doing the right thing and not pirating them and doing the right thing and not supporting DRM and all those other similar programs.

So yes, my life is damn miserable because of it. I really want to play the former two listed. In fact, I won't be surprised if I do end up pirating them. If I'm going to be treated like a criminal, maybe I should just play my part. At least I can have fun whilst I'm treated so.

EDIT: Another thing, to add insult to injury, 2 years ago I switched from console gaming to PC completely by spending £1000 on a top range PC, specifically to play games, and have bought a further graphics card since, only so that the game's I planned to play won't allow me to do so without jumping through hoops.

I for one think by investing the money to play these powerful games I've more than earnt my right to play them without ridiculous security measures.

 

[fenrizz]

Or are you saying you can't steal electricity? It's identified as property, and you have no right to take it. The definition of stealing was kept simple, and obtaining something that is owned by another party without that party giving you permission to obtain is theft. Same for patents, or formulas, or credit card numbers.

If you steal electricity the power company lose that amount, if you copy their electricity on the other hand...
Credit card numbers? You would still be losing your actual money.
Patents? when people break a patent, they do so to manufacture and sell a product that is identical, or near identical to the original product. Personally I think many patents last too long.

 

[MattKirby]

I used to pirate, but then I realised what a waste of time it is. I'd prefer to buy the game because odds are pirating will fuck your computer up beyond belief. It's just not worth it with things like gamefly and blockbuster. What's 7 bucks for a 50 dollar game ?

 

[Anton P. Nym]

If you had no intention of paying them, yet you take what they made. That's stealing because you took property without being allowed to do so.

What property did I take? The software? No. The person I downloaded from still has his, noone lost their copy of it. The profit? No. They never had my money in the first place, and again - "You can't lose what you don't have". It's like saying you just stole my car. In what way? Well, I'm just assuming you were going to give me your car, and since you didn't, you clearly stole it from me.

Just like they just assume I was going to give them my money, and since I didn't, I clearly stole it from them.

But if you didn't help create it, either by contributing to the process or at least paying for some of the man-hours that went into it, why do you have any right to play it? Why are you entitled to use their software?

It's absolutely hypocritical to take a game without paying for it, and then justify the taking by saying you weren't going to pay for it anyway. It's especially mind-boggling because it's not even being taken out of desperation; it's a frickin' game. The world won't end if you don't play it.

-- Steve

 

[Starnerf]

I've had to go without Farcry 2, Mirror's Edge, Mass Effect (I could've got that for £5 new) and Bioshock for the PC due to doing the right thing and not pirating them and doing the right thing and not supporting DRM and all those other similar programs.

So yes, my life is damn miserable because of it. I really want to play the former two listed. In fact, I won't be surprised if I do end up pirating them. If I'm going to be treated like a criminal, maybe I should just play my part. At least I can have fun whilst I'm treated so.

Don't blame the companies for treating you like a criminal, blame your criminal buddies (they may or may not actually be your buddies, and they shouldn't be if you have such a problem with DRM) who decided they didn't want to pay for their games.

 

[Gladion]

If you had no intention of paying them, yet you take what they made. That's stealing because you took property without being allowed to do so.

What property did I take? The software? No. The person I downloaded from still has his, noone lost their copy of it. The profit? No. They never had my money in the first place, and again - "You can't lose what you don't have". It's like saying you just stole my car. In what way? Well, I'm just assuming you were going to give me your car, and since you didn't, you clearly stole it from me.

Just like they just assume I was going to give them my money, and since I didn't, I clearly stole it from them.

It's always the same shitty flawed points those people give, there's really no point in arguing about this. People pirate because it doesn't feel like a crime. It's the same for driving too fast. It doesn't feel like a crime, so it is none...
I mean, really, you can't have someone draw a picture for you, then go to the next copy shop, xerox this picture and give him the original back, saying "oh, there you go, I don't want to pay you, keep it!" That's just bullshit and people can't tell me they really are stupid enough to believe this is not stealing. It's not your regular way of stealing, but it's still getting something without giving something back.
See, I still argued about this. It just makes me furious how people try to justify this.

 

[gamegod25]

Yes life really is that bad but that's a completely different isssue. Anyway to play devils advocate, it's not about "needing" something. It's simply that they want something that they can get for free so why should they have to pay? Of course I can't speak for everyone and am sure there are other excuses.

I have a friend who just downloads CD cracks so he can play the games without having to put in the disc. As for myself I almost never pirate something and only do if I can't acquire it through legal channels (ex. Metal Wolf Chaos).

PS If they ever do bring Metal Wolf Chaos to the US then I'll gladly buy a legal copy to make up for it.

 

[Teachingaddict]

Hmmmm if I remember correctly, it is in fact 'illegal' to tape and lend/borrow of someone a prerecorded VHS/DVD...now this law might have been changed recently, but those that say they "dont" pirate.....im sure if you look somewhere you will find you have..whether it being bluetoothed an image/video/mp3 to your phone, or whether it tape something from the radio station (ah those good ole days) or as stated recording something from the tv and lending it out or borrowing "that show you missed last night".

I am not stating whether or not I pirate, what I will say is anything i have ever liked...I buy it.

What I would also like to see

If for instance I am a so-called pirate ----can you prove that I have infact damaged any particular individual or industry by doing so???

 

[Terramax]

Don't blame the companies for treating you like a criminal, blame your criminal buddies (they may or may not actually be your buddies, and they shouldn't be if you have such a problem with DRM) who decided they didn't want to pay for their games.

That's a load of crap as far as I'm concerned. By treating innocent gamers like dirt they in return deserve pirates to treat them the same. Their 'security measures' effectively make them just as low as the people they're fighting against.

I don't agree with piracy, but I certainly don't mind them hindering sales for the above games on my behalf.

 

[xxcloud417xx]

I agree with Iseko, There is too much trash hitting the market that we don't know what is worth buying anymore. Me and my clanmates though are do the same thing though, if the game is great and worth buying then we buy it. We prefer to spend the money on good games because that money means that we support them in making good games like the ones we paid for. As for the ones we don't pay for, well we don't want to give money to the company who made it, it will look as if we support their shitty series.

 

[sirdapfrey]

I onyl pirate games with DRM.
They need to learn their lesson

Why is DRM around in the first place?

 

[Hookman]

I don't pirate games but I pirate films and sometimes music (if I cant find it anywhere else).
I don't really make much money (Only about £30 a month) and I have to save most of the money I get.

 

[Shugaazer]

I don't pirate software, or music at all, and only spend money on something worth it.


The last time I bought a new game was back in 2005; life's pretty ok.

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

As others have said, developers are obviously getting lazy and the game industry is slowly turning into Hollywood; they typecast different attractions and then churn them out because they're so sure that we'll just buy anything they throw at us. That's why I rarely ever pay money to see new movies anymore, because most of them are shit. If I like a movie that much, I'll find the DVD whenever I get around to it.

Piracy is a way of showing them we're only going to pay for games are worth the goddamn money.

 

[Nazulu]

Most people pirate usually to save money, everything is so damn expensive these days and it doesn't bother alot of people to steal their own entertainment. I am mainly talking about music though, most people don't know how to crack video games and what not so they just go with the easier solution and just buy it!