How do you justify piracy?

[XiaBoruoxo]

I do it because I'm poor and unfortunate.

[ungodly]

Yeah, just came back. Too lazy to read all your replies.

I do it because I'm poor and unfortunate.

Pretty much why I do it. Though not that poor but limited in what I can spend the money:
- Never seen a movie at a theater.
- Never rented a movie.

Before torrents I pretty much was limited to movies on tv and borrowing movies from the library!

[L33ch3r]

I do it for the convenience. I like having access whatever movie, tv show, album, etc at my fingertips, and never having to watch commercials or annoying previews, or FBI warnings :)
I know it's theft, and I don't try to justify it, but I'll continue to do it until the major studios come up with a system that's just as convenient and not laded with so much DRM that I can't do what I want with what I buy.

[Resurrection]

I know it's theft, and I don't try to justify it,

Its not theft,its copyright infringement.There is no such thing as a 'lost sale'.

[L33ch3r]

Its not theft,its copyright infringement.There is no such thing as a 'lost sale'.

There is such a thing as a lost sale if it's something I otherwise would have paid for if it was available elsewhere with the same convenience as downloading it and in the same quality format with no DRM.

I'm not poor, just lazy
I also don't like the restrictions that are placed on most purchased digital content.

Call it whatever you like, though. Theft or Copyright Infringement. Either way, I have no trouble sleeping at night.

[buta]

I like something, then there's nothing stopping me from getting. Not the FBI . Not the RIAA . Not the MPAA.
The artists must feel honored that people go to the extent of breaking law to get their stuff . Money is not everything you know... If people really enjoy it theyl go and buy stuff. Some are not as fortunate as others. They cant afford to spend too much on entertainment.
The more rules they put in, the larger the piracy grows. They just goto forget it and move on with their lives.
I for one have considered free entertainment as my birth-right but tats just me.
No offence

[Unregistered342423]

"Piracy" is just a passage into what the future will be. The organisations are trying to hold onto dying technology and traditions, but the fact is everything will be digital in the near future. They simpy must drop their crazy prices for games, movies and even music. Albums cost 30 dollars where i live, pc games cost 100 dollars or more. Thats absolutely ridiculous, i earn only 600-700 a week. I dont justify what i do, but i dont justify what they do either. i have the means, i do it. i dont profit off it, neither do they. if the internet or torrents or downloading didnt exist, i simply would not buy their products. they lose nothing from 'me'. eventually they will see that piracy war cannot be won, and more artists will release their songs/movies on social media for microtranssactions or for free. this is the future.

[SealLion]

"...this is the future...

Damn rights it is.

[olabird]

I am justified in pirating stuff because if I didn't, I wouldn't buy them anyways, so in any case the content owners wouldn't be getting money. I guess what I'm saying is that winning for me and losing for the content owner is better than both of us losing.

[SBfreak]

Even though I think some of you already saw this it pretty much sums up the basic flow of thoughts that leads to piracy. Also funny comics hehe.
I tried to watch Game of Thrones and this is what happened - The Oatmeal

[Jordan]

1) Not all movies and games are available in my country.

2) I don't have the money to buy them at such high prices.

3) I don't want to have hundreds of cd's / dvd's to handle.

4) Most of the movies and games I download are not worth watching / playing and instead prove to be a waste of time.

[slikrapid]

instead of trying to justify anything, why not just take a a look at why does it (file-sharing & co.) happen in the first place:

- availability (of digital files) - its there (online) to try out, its tempting, see what happens, see how it works out
- convenience/easy-to-use (torrents & co.) - satisfactory results with the least amount of hassle, mostly better than alternatives
- a continuation of previous habits/addictions - consuming/using entertainment with more options (see above)
- a way of sharing - similar to what was done before the digital era
- try before you buy & saving money - no need to buy blindly, buy only what you really want (to buy)
- fun/enjoyable, personally/socially useful
- sufficiently personally morally justifiable - c/p vs. stealing, sharing/promotion vs. infringement, non-profit activity, supported by millions upon millions of (like-minded) users all over the world, majority (or at least a significant group of interested citizens) vs. current laws, corporate inflexibility/insensitivity/hostility, feeling of power over (some elements of) the system, feeling of relevance or being a part of something bigger (sign of the times, shaping the future),...

and a few other things:

- regarding 'greed' - it doesn't matter if someone (or some company) want's to be greedy - you don't have to support them or play along with their desires or depend on their products - examples: don't consume, consume less, choose another company (or 'the company you keep'), do something else with your life, find another way, adapt & overcome,... - however, its their (personal) right to choose 'greed' if they want to do so
- regarding 'filthy rich' companies or persons - see above

as mentioned some time ago, the entertainment industry is not completely opposed to file-sharing (or to the so-called 'piracy'), its only formally/seemingly so as long as it still plays in their favor - their primary goal is to keep the user addicted to entertainment, keep them consuming & wanting more (notice that file-sharers fit this description rather well), keep them directly/indirectly entertained/occupied/involved (worst case scenario: less direct profit, more indirect profit via publicity, future clients, surrounding/arising/related markets, lawsuits, favorable legislative changes,...), keep the entertainment machine 'turning & churning', preparing the future generations of consumers for their roles - buying their products or direct profit is the secondary goal, which is basically certain one way or another if the primary goal gets fulfilled (the only question left might be: how high can it get)

related to the above is the question of money, which is usually at the top of the list when discussing main reasons for corporate behavior - money is merely a tool (granted, a powerful one) to reach some desired result(s), which in the case of entertainment industry (or any other industry and the related big players in general, applies to governments/systems/ideologies/hierarchies/... as well) would be: power & control, be it regarding market share, marketing, brands, user addiction, user preferences/behavior, current or future consumers, and so on - for only those in control or powerful enough can have significant influence on current/future (global) events/developments/scenarios and they will use any means deemed necessary to keep (or improve) their positions, it could even be compared to war, where previous blood-red battlefields got 'substituted' for $-green ones, though the core goals of the 'game' never really changed at all

[n4overclock]

1-it make no sense to me to spend money on digital data when i could be upgrading my hardware

2-sometimes piracy get you involved in great communities

3-entertaiment department is already big enough that if they make more money its gonna get out of hand

4-some ways of piracy can take skills to do

[classyboy]

The cost of a Blu ray is 1/10th of what I earn in a month, so I cant keep buying Blu arys. Same for the cost of watching movies in the theatre. So I guess, I am left with no choice but to see pirated stuff.

[isabella]

no money whitout internet I would probably only read books for free in libraries. XD