Yes, but you are still stealing. Because you see there are these funny little warning about illegal copying of either cds or movies. It doesn't matter if someone bought it, afterall someone originally bought the music someone is currently downloading offline. Someone originally paid to go to the movie they videotaped and are now selling on the corner. Someone paid for the membership that allows them to make pirated copies of music and movie - so why is their way wrong and your way right? It isn't, but because no money is being exchanged you feel better about it. In the way of downloading no money is being exchanged and therefore (by your reasoning) nothing wrong is occuring. Perfect.
I rationalize it, but you can't be angry at the downloaders - it's the uploaders who are to blame. People will always take something that they can get for free if it's out there. It's the one's who do the initial steal and then upload it that cause a problem, after all, if there is nothing to steal then no one can do it.
I have Netflix and Hulu accounts, and I'm generally pretty pleased with them. It's nice to be able to watch movies anywhere, especially when I'm travelling or sometimes I will even access my account at a friends house so we can watch movies together. I haven't bought a DVD in years though. When Blu Ray came out, I was just looking at my DVD collection and thinking I'm gonna have to buy all these all over again on Blu Ray now? Most of the time when I download movies now illegally it's because it's not on Netflix.
I can't wait for Hulu to become available in the UK. It sounds like a fantastic service, much like the Spotify of movies and tv shows. Sounds great.
Define Legal and Illegal, because these terms vary in different countries. Here in Ukraine people sell pirated movies, music, games in stores and in bundles! Copyright laws are not as strict as say, the west coast. No, I don't find it immoral because it isn't stealing. You can't steal information that is already there. The original copy is still there, and it's not as though the person is trying to sell you someone else's product.
I SOmtimes Illegally download games, But If i like it i usually take a purchase from steam about the game.. If I dont i dont play it and uninstall it. It's kind of like an unlimited test period But I do actually buy them. But now i play alot of PS3 so usually buy those games
What is there to rationalize? I download a copy from someone who willingly offers his copy for downloading purposes. I didn't take it without his permission. As to whether that person has the right to offer his copy for downloading purposes, it's another story.
You would make it as simple as possible and you are correct technically. You aren't stealing the file, because it is being made freely available to the public. However, you are an accessory to the crime of theft because you are profitting from the illegal reproduction of intellectual property or something.
I have downloaded things before, but I also purchase music and movies as well. It really depends on what the product is because I don't want to waste money on entertainment because I have bills to pay. I understand that the artist needs money, but the consumer has less money than the artist. Most of the record business is promoting violence, sex, and drugs in their music anyway. So I think they get rich off of us, now we can take that money away from them. People use downloading as a means of punishment for the artist. If I feel like someone did something they shouldn't have done then it's downloading time.
My thoughts exactly. If it's available to download, then why call it illegal? Besides, it's not like it's going to be the end of the world if you download an album instead of buying it. Labels and not really artists (who get the smaller piece of the cake) are the one who lose sales because of that - when why don't they do anything to stop piracy? In the meantime, I'll keep downloading as many files as I want. I've been able to watch many GREAT movies that are never on TV or people my age have never seen (I'm talking The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, etc.). Should I not have free access to culture?
Well thats one way to put it Still... that file is illegally put up for download, and we know it is illegal for us to download it. Even if we put aside downloading, it is illegal for us to have those files on our PC unless we have purchased it (im not flaming or anything, im a heavy downlaoder )
One great thing about illegal downloading is it has FORCED media companies to stop artificially inflating the price of their products. Look at all the awesome streaming services you can get for so cheap, this is the true market cost of their product. For a long time the companies got away with some shady activities. My best example is the switch from tapes to CD's. CD's cost less to make and encode, but were sold for DOUBLE the cost of a cassette. There was nothing the consumer could do. Then along came downloading and everyone jumped on board. This is just the market doing it's thing. It's the natural progression of things.
There's no point in trying to rationalize illegal downloading. I've heard some people say that they download movies because they are over-priced. While I must admit that the prices aren't too wallet-friendly question is, must you watch that movie? If you can't afford something or won't buy something, do you steal it because it is over-priced?
I don' agree or disagree with downloading exactly.. everyone has a reason and some I'm on board with, some I'm not. I really don't feel sorry for the filthy rich being stolen from.. not even a smidge lol. Yes, some of them work very hard.. but they'll always be rolling in it. This I agree with. The rich are still filthy rich and now things are becoming affordable. They aren't the real victims, I don't care how you spin it. Look at television services.. they're so panicked they're FINALLY offering to allow people to only pay for the channels they choose. Do you know how many years they've been shoving a million channels down everyone's throats, forcing them to pay for things they'd never use? It would have only gotten worse, though I'm sure they'll come up with more to syphon wallets, if they haven't already.. I wouldn't know, I got rid of it and plan to keep it that way. They've always had the power to pull down prices, but they waited until we didn't need them anymore. Movies... aren't they getting MORE expensive?? lol.. they don't seem to care haha.
I don't ever download anything illegally. I would like to say that it is because I am morally sound, however it is simply due to the fact that I worry that at some point they will clamp down upon it, and every single person who had every downloaded anything could get a fee for what they had "stolen" from the artist. I have lots of friends who download everything, and I don't think that's very fair, because a lot of work, time and money goes into making these things, and I feel as though it is directly stealing from the artist. I would not like it if someone were to do it to me, so I would not do it to anybody else either.
I don't do it either. When I was on a very low income I was tempted and ended up deleting the software from my computer so I wouldn't do it (I downloaded thinking I could stock up on old public domain and legally shared material, but that was pretty unrealistic of me.) These days I am on a middle-class level of income and there is absolutely no reason why I should be skirting the law. At heart I am a socialist, and so I think the worker should always be paid for their labor. So instead of pirating I try to support self-employed and indy artists directly as much as possible, and limit the money I throw at blockbusters. TL;DR: Just because the system is flawed does not mean it is okay to not pay the worker who made the material, by the whatever mechanism they chose to work under.
Ah, but it's ok for the rich to steal from the poor. I would never say stealing is "ok" on either side of the fence, but there are too many grey areas. For the most part, the rich are putting the poor in the position to make these moral decisions to begin with. And it's completely unnecessary and unfair.
When I was in college, I used to download a lot of illegal software online. I had no money then. It was a time that I was still growing up and learning more about Intellectual Property. However, as I got older and started to earn money, I paid for the software and games I used to pirate. It was one way for me to make amends. Also, to give respect to the creators of the software since I am also a creator.
People take the copyright laws way too seriously. Reason being is you can't make a simple fan montage (even if you credit the creators of the source content) and post it for others to see. There's apparently no such thing as fair use anymore. This is so stupid because every invention is based off of something else. Yes I'm one of those people who make videos like that. I could possibly see it if you were trying to make it a profit but what does the makers of the source content have to lose? It's free promotion for their stuff and it is a way of showing that you appreciate their work while also expressing your creativity in your way of interpreting it. It's basically just visual fanfiction. Now mind you I do not illegally download if I support a musician. If you like a musician enough purchase their songs but if you don't care about the artist then what difference does it make if you purchase it or not. Generally I guess you should buy when you can but occasional pirating is okay.
I only download tunes I have purchased in the past. For instance, I bought record albums in the 70's and 80's and now the tunes are on YouTube scratch-free so I grab them! I have already bought them once, so... loophole? Grey area? Still wrong? Should I have to buy again just because they are now digital? Ethical? Hmmm, I wonder. Thanks, ThatOneDude88
