Let's be honest here, almost all of us at some point in our lives probably downloaded something for free. Although I don't support piracy especially software and game piracy, I'm kind of in the grey when it comes to movies especially the crappy ones. I feel no guilt whenever I torrent movies that I know are crap but when it comes to really good movies, especially independent movies I tend to throw them all I got. What are your thoughts on this one?
I actually hardly ever download movies because my internet connection is rather slow. It would take quite some time to download a 2-3 GB movie so even if I could, I can't. Nonetheless I believe it would come down to someone's integrity. If it's the sort of person who does in private what he would do when thousands of eyes were watching him, then that person obviously won't download pirated content whether it's a crappy movie or not. Others who aren't that virtuous . . .
Well crappy movies typically get onto cable in less than a year after theatre release where I live, and I'm in no rush to watch a bad movie. There are plenty of other things to watch on Netflix.
I don't get this trying to justify piracy. Either you are doing it, or you aren't, why would people try to justify it? To feel better about themselves? Well, too bad, it doesn't work that way. There's a lot of different laws making different forms of piracy "okay" and some not, but it doesn't really matter WHAT movie it was.. why would I feel better pirating a "bad" one than pirating a "good" one?
It's only piracy if you have a copy that has been copyrighted, decided to upload the movie despite being aware of the warnings, and did not write an expressed disclaimer that movie is not your property. Then again, I don't understand Legalese and i a man, am not part of their society nor bound to their rules. However, if a man or woman comes forth and makes a claim against i for causing injury, then I am obligated to settle a cure or remedy with him/her in the private - if the matter cannot be solved in the private, more than likely, it will be solved in a court at a courthouse.
It's not okay at all. You are already pirating, so why not make the most of it? Why are you still going to settle for a kind that's not going to give you satisfaction. It would be okay if there's nothing else is available and that you couldn't get it from anywhere else yet; if that crappy one is the only thing there and that there's no better quality. But if there are better options, go for them. After all, you're not going to spend.
I don't mind piracy either way, regardless of the quality of the movie. In my opinion, the movie industry should have changed their system long ago instead of going after and treating their customers like criminals. I will find a way to support the producers if I really like their product that much, and many others will too.
And . . . Since people have different tastes and preferences, how would you 'measure' a movie's 'crappiness'? If you illegally download only crappy movies [by your standards], wouldn't you try to justify downloading any movie using the pretext, "the movie is crappy" even if it isn't? I agree with Aladar, either you download any movie you want to [and proffer no excuses] or don't do it at all.
I personally only view it as "piracy" if someone downloads a movie for free and then tries to sell it to other people and make profit off something they did not make. I personally download a lot of my movies, since I have no money for "frivolous" things like renting or going to the movies, and because I hate going to the movies. If I end up liking a movie a lot, I will buy a copy of the movie, when I have money for it. "Piracy" of media is a tricky topic. There isn't any real "right" or "wrong", just opinions about it.
I have no idea what you mean by there isn't a "right" or "wrong" about piracy, but just opinions. Keep in mind, I am not personally attacking you, but I am questioning the logic you are using. To "pirate" anything is to steal. That is why that call it pirating, (pirates were known to steal and plunder). It's the same thing as going into a store, taking a box of pizza off the shelf and thinking to yourself, "I am not sure if I will like this or not. I don't have the money to pay for it, so I will just take it." Obviously, pirating media online is a lot easier, and has a perception that it is easy, and that you aren't hurting anyone by taking it. But it hurts a lot of people, and in simple terms, it is stealing. A lot of people work hard for their media rights, and it isn't fair to them that some people think it is okay to take their stuff for free. Finally, this is a website about not paying in full, (to get discounts) not about stealing.
Except it's not. To steal something means you are taking something which will then not be available to others, and last I checked if you download a movie it doesn't disappear from the face of the earth all of a sudden. Maybe you should check up on what stealing means. At worst, you're depriving someone of money, but that isn't stealing. And you can't even prove that.
I respectfully disagree. It is all semantics... But when looking up the word "steal", this is what I found. "take (another person's property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it." To pirate something is taking someones "digital" property without permission. The definition of "piracy" is "the unauthorized use or reproduction of another's work". When you pirate a game or movie, you absolutely are unauthorized to "use" it. Definitions aside, it is frustrating to see people try to justify an action that the mass majority of the people know is morally wrong. I will give you an example of how this action hurts others... Because PC video game piracy is so rampart, a lot of development companies have had to include a type of program to their games called, DRM (or digital rights management). What this usually does is force the players who bought the game to at least connect to the internet upon the start of the game to "verify" you have a legitimate copy of the game. So if you are not able to connect to the internet, you cannot play the game that you legitimately bought. So the old saying of a few bad eggs has ruined it for the rest of us perfectly applies to this situation.
Piracy is piracy, regardless of the quality of the content. I won't go into the rights and wrongs of it but the law classes it as theft. Just because a downloaded movie isn't a tangible item doesn't mean that it is exempt from the law, as @eagletal88 points out, it is somebody's digital property.
"and without intending to return it.", did you miss that part? You can't TAKE digital data without intent of returning. Stealing and piracy are two different things, in both definition and the legal system, I don't think any court thinks that's just semantics. Also, DRM isn't a good enough argument, honestly, because no one is forcing the companies to put DRM on their games. On the contrary, some of the DRM free games sold heaps better than the ones that used DRM, even though you could pirate them way easier. Nope, the law classifies it as Copyright Infringement, completely different from theft.
No. I have qualms with piracy in most cases, but I'm not saying 'no' because of that. It's more because I value my time, so I wouldn't even watch crappy movies. I do a small investigation before watching any movie to know if it's really worth watching. Maybe I'm too picky, heh
It doesn't matter how bad a movie is, piracy is wrong and is an infringement of copyright laws which can lead to fines. You can't make exceptions, so if you know what you are doing is wrong, why do it? Is it worth the risk? Not everyone gets caught, but you never know who is monitoring downloads and people do get caught with their IP addresses.
Eh, that is what they want you to think, the cases where end user gets caught downloading are so extremely rare the chance is about the same as winning a lottery.
No, I do think its okay to pirate bad movies. Its still theft plain and simple. It doesnt matter that you may not view a movie worth paying for, its still stealing. A lot of money went into making most movies regardless of the quality. You should fo the right thing and pay for them.
