Again, I really think that it is open to interpretation. Just because something costs more - hundreds of dollars - as apposed to less money, as far as torrenting goes, then I don't necessarily think that that warrants more legal action that other torrenting activity.
Why is everyone saying that "torrenting" is piracy? "Torrenting" (if that's even a word) is an act of using the BitTorrent protocol to download data. Plenty of legitimate software vendors use BitTorrent, because it's a cheap way to distribute data..
Torrenting is a word. Of course it is. It may not be in the dictionary - not that I've checked lol - but when it is used, people understand what it is and what it means. Torernting is a type of piracy then, at the very least. And let's face it: most people don't seem to torrent because it is the cheap way to distribute data. They do it as a means to avoid having to pay for numerous types of media online.
Which doesn't make it "a way of piracy". You may think that it's not being used too much to distribute data, but how do you think World of Warcraft and League of Legends distribude their games? Via torrents. And I'm pretty sure that those 15 million people that play those it can't be seen as a minority.
Yes, but that is one concentrated area. It doesn't matter how big a number is. If it is still in the minority, then it is in the minority. I'm not going to play semantics with you, because it is pointless. The point is that the vast majority of people use torrenting to pirate games, books, music, and software. I don't know why that is so hard for you to accept? Yes, I'm sure that companies use torrenting in the way that you are claiming too. Nobody is saying that they don't. But most people use it as a way of pirating. Fact.
If there are fifteen million blue people in a room, and seventy-six million red people also in the same room, then the fifteen million blue people are in the minority, yes. It really is not difficult to understand. Nobody is saying that you are wrong in what you say regarding torrenting being used for distribution, but you seem to want to take offense if you are not agreed with 100%. When you talk to people, they torrent for PIRACY purposes mostly. Fact.
I only use Torrents to test games before buying them, and it helped me save a lot of money. I was recently hyped for Agarest 2, a tactical game on Steam. I was planning to buy it, but figured I could try it out through a Torrent first. I was right to do so because I really ended up disliking the game (and unable to sell it since it was a digital game).
I have heard this point of view before, regarding torrenting. I also know that many people say that they are just testing games when they torrent them, but then once they've completed the game, they don't buy it. It gets forgotten about. I am not sure that I'd purchase a game once completing it either though hahaha. Torrenting is a smart way to be careful with your money though. I have purchased games in the past, and have not been impressed that I wasted my money.
Funny, I was under the impression that fact is something that is backed up with undeniable sources, which I don't really seem to see anywhere in your posts. And even with quick googling, the only thing I could find was that Pirate Bay's unique visitors never really seem to go over the 5 million mark, and that was some 4 years ago and dropping since. Sooooo...
First of all, torrenting doesn't necessarily mean theft, although if I were to give it a "theft" percentage, it would be around 90%; however, there are a lot of game developing companies who implement this "torrent" concept more and more, because it's overall reliable and fast. Secondly, I have nothing against torrenting. That doesn't mean I condone theft, don't get me wrong, but there are a lot of ways to prevent piracy, and we shouldn't prohibit the usage of a completely legal product just because you can use it for your own "malicious" interests.
It's just common sense fact at this point, hun. Everybody that you talk to, whether it is online, or offline, most often state that they torrent as a means of piracy. This thread was started and you had a problem with the term 'torrenting,' because of how everybody was perceiving it. Well... they are perceiving it that way due to the fact that most people torrent as a means of piracy. Them AND the people that they know. Sooooo...
Torrenting is against the law. It is somewhat similar to stealing someone else car or shoes. I know it is quite bad to do torrenting however I must admin I do a lot of torrent downloading when I am in college.
I love how long it took you to think up a rebuttal *rolls eyes* These people aren't my buddies. Some of them are, but most of them are not. This extends to the internet too - most people that you talk to online confess to torrenting for piracy reasons. The fact that you were exasperated about the way that people use and perceive the word 'torrenting,' in correlation with piracy, should be an indication to you that the majority use and associate torrenting with piracy. You're the one who is commenting in this thread with a differing perspective from the majority, which does not mean that your point is all the way invalid, by the way. But it means that most people use torrenting as a means of piracy in the majority, which you do not seem to be able to accept, for whatever reason. But whatever, bro.
Ok, if we're going to start throwing around bros (kudos for not whipping out "cool story") then I think the argument has been played out lol. I'm preeeeeetty sure you guys aren't going to agree on this. Or not.. there's just nothing else for me to comment on right now.. ignore me
What are we like, huh? Getting into these debates lol. I think I secretly enjoy them. Don't tell anybody though, because I'm supposed to be a harmony-seeking Libra Myself and the above poster don't have to agree, but I was not about to be bro-ed lol, when the person is a little off in what they are saying, and coming for me because I do not 100% agree.
LOL you were bro-ed. Cool story Dreekster. Nah, I like to debate too (I know, you're shocked), I just had nothing better to do at the time and thought I'd jump in and be a little pointless. So what's the difference between me downloading music and going back in time to the 80s and borrowing my bestie's Boy George cassette to record? Is it who I got it from? Either way, it's for personal use and I'm sure The Man would have no problem invading my privacy to see that.
I think that torrent networks are a great concept. Many companies use it for their products (Steam, Blizzard). But what you are asking is our stance or illegal downloading. And that's of course bad. It shouldn't be the case. But if companies can't provide reliable access to media all around the world for reasonable price then torrenting will be the way to go. There's just a lot of void in terms of providers and torrents fill that hole.
Like others have said, torrenting doesn't actually directly mean that something illegal is being downloaded. However, in regards to illegal downloading, I honestly think it depends on the situation. For example, what if you want to purchase an expensive game, but you don't know if you'll like it? No stores near you have demos for you, and the game doesn't have one officially, either. It's technically illegal, but since there isn't a demo, and you plan to buy it anyways, what happens? Also, if a person wasn't going to buy it originally, torrenting the file might make them like the game enough to buy it, and they might just played the pirated copy--but either way, there is no possible loss, only a possible gain. I don't think torrenting should have stricter laws put in place against it, because once again--it's completely legal as long as you're torrenting files that are legal. For example, I read up on "The Pirate Bay Bundle", which was a bundle composed of entirely free games (and not pirated, either; they were legitimately obtained from their developers, and the devs agreed to have them in the bundle). However, it could only be torrented from...you guessed it, The Pirate Bay! It all depends on what you're torrenting.
