If it's illegal it is just that and you can't get around it. As someone who has studied IP, the laws are not to be dismissed. Many people who infringe copyright laws and don't get caught, but those that do will pay a huge penalty. The excuse that others do it doesn't count when you know it's illegal. There are plenty of legal downloads available and it's not worth the risk besides many illegal downloads aren't safe and may have viruses.
I used to download music and movies illegally (via torrents or streaming websites), but recently, with the advent of services like Spotify, I've made the change to actually paying for music. Back when I did illegally download music, I would often find myself rationalizing it. Looking back now, I wish I would have started paying for music a lot sooner. This is all my opinion, I know a lot of people that still illegally download music and most of them have their own individual reasons as to why they decide to keep doing it. All I know is that it's not for me.
I think that a great deal of people who download music - or anything, really - illegally, will rationalize their illegal downloads in their minds to themselves. Personally, though, I don't think that I have ever done so? If I have wanted a song, I don't really think about the ethical or moral implications of going online, finding that song, and downloading it to my mp3 device or phone as quickly as possible.
I'm a musician so I don't illegal download, but I do somewhat agree with the rationalization that people have. For the most part, the musicians today make almost all of their money from touring. Barely any musicians are relying on album sales; this is more just additional income that we don't rely on. Unless you are someone on the level of, say, Beyonce, album sales really aren't going to do much. Although this is a compelling argument I still definitely don't download any music illegally because I can see both sides and the additional income IS NICE and lets us buy more equipment and make more albums.
I am also a musician. I have even sold my music online through various different outlets and websites, and I will still illegally download music, as well as other files off of the internet. Yes, it is true that if you don't have a live act, as an artist, then you are simply not going to make a lot of money. You've got to DJ, and tour, or hold concerts, in order to make the real money as an artist. I worked that out the hard way when I started to sell my music online. I can also see both sides, but I will continue to download music.
I don't hide the fact that I love to download music, movies, and pdf files from the internet. I used to buy original cd's when we didn't have internet yet, and now that we do, then I think that it's just right to take advantage of what's free online.
I don't think that I have actually ever heard anyone - at least in my circle of friends, or concerning people that I know - rationalizing downloading things from the internet illegally. It has become so commonplace these days, that few actually see it is a point of unethical behavior. It's just what people do nowadays.
I agree with the OP that stealing is stealing. However, I'd like to mention the rationalization for stealing someone on a blog told me. He was basically saying, "Once it's mine, it's mine.". Note, I found this odd cause this guy seemed to be some really big right-wing pro-business type. Anyway, does anyone agree with this rationalization, or is it just an excuse? Oh, by the way, a lot of times companies put viruses on downloading services on purpose to discourage the practice. In that case, the damage done to your computer might outweigh the savings from free downloads.
Yes I do, but I used to do it a lot more than I do now, so that is good. When you really think about all the money that is there it is easy not to feel bad about seeing a free one, so that makes it fine to me.
I would say indirectly I am in the position that what I have downloaded especially songs for my personal use and nothing more are seemingly in the allowable copyright use. It would be illegal when those songs I have downloaded are being sold for gain, for money. Besides the sites that those songs are being downloaded have disclaimer that they are free to download without any copy infringement.
I believe Piracy is only harmful if you downloaded content from Independent makers and smaller companies. Stealing from Billion dollar companies like Disney and Paramount is not that bad. They are billionaires already and they wont die of bankruptcy if we download a movie or song from them. I buy and legally stream stuff too but there are times when I am financially broke so I do the illegal stuff. There are no rules in my country yet that can get me arrested yet. If you are from a strict country like the US though, it is a different story.
