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[Jimmy]

NOTE: As per forum guidelines, it is NOT acceptable to share links to copyright material or sites which provide such material. Please limit your comments to discussion only.

What is your stand on digital piracy?
Do you feel it is acceptable or unethical?
Should the copying and redistribution of copyright material be illegal for personal use?
Do you support current punishments for pirates?
What do you believe the future will be for digital piracy?

In terms of my personal viewpoint I have no problem with enjoying pirated material. I believe I have contributed much of my income already to the entertainment industry, more than offsetting the amount I withhold through using copied material. Furthermore my wife enjoys foreign films which can simply not be accessed in my country, leaving us with piracy as the only option.

What are your thoughts?

[RedKing]

Frankly, I'm just a cheapass. There, I said it. 

Plus, I see a certain level of piracy as the norm. There's been digital piracy as long as there's been digital media. Hell, there was *analog* piracy when there was only analog media (there's a famous episode where Charles Dickens visited New York in the late 1800s and was outraged to see counterfeit copies of his books being sold for 5 cents on the street corners).

I feel that it's just a natural marginal effect of marketing information. More people want the information than are willing to pay what the owner is charging. With material products, they have little recourse but to pay or do without (or purchase a cheap knock-off). With information, it's far easier for someone else to reproduce the product.

I think my perspective is permanently skewed towards sympathy towards pirates because I still fondly remember the demo and sneakernet scene from the 80's, when everyone had a Commodore, and the big thing was to trade around floppies with software that came from a friend who knew a guy, who got it from this other guy, who knew a guy who actually had a 300 baud modem and spent all night downloading this from a BBS....

My one hard and fast rule is that if you're going to pirate data, you don't try to make money off it. Here in the US, that's not much an issue. Overseas (especially Asia), there are street markets chock-full of pirated software for sale. Not so kosher with that, although I have to confess to buying some pirate compilations of Koei games in Shanghai just because they had a few games on there I'd never even heard of.

And I grabbed a movie, just for the mash-up cover art. The title was "Mary, Mother of Jesus" but the cover art was a mashup of stills from the movie (crucifixion scenes mostly) with stills from Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, King Arthur and a few other fantasy movies. I figured either this was some serious false advertising, or TEH BEST MOVIE EVAR. Sadly, it was just some made-for-TV Bible story movie with a distinct lack of dragons, armored Messiahs and orc armies. But for 10¥, the cover art was worth it either way. In that case, I don't consider it rewarding piracy but rather rewarding the mashup artist.

[Outcast Orange]

I figured either this was some serious false advertising, or TEH BEST MOVIE EVAR.

I am still laughing, and I've had at least 30 seconds of text editing during the last minute.

I must commend you good sir.

[Acanthus117]

I frankly don't give a !!Elf Child's head!!. I only care about it if I get viruses or something.

[Armok]

Information wants to be freeeee!!!! Viva la revulution!!!

[Shades]

What is your stand on digital piracy?

It's illegal, people shouldn't do it.

Do you feel it is acceptable or unethical?

However if they weren't going to buy it anyway (the vast majority of cases) then it doesn't really hurt anyone and there is always the chance they will like it and buy it. (please buy things you pirate and then find you enjoy a lot, we can't make more if we don't get paid)

Should the copying and redistribution of copyright material be illegal for personal use?

Redistribution for personal use? what?
Copying for personal use, backs up or more accurately copy to use and place the original somewhere safe, should be allowed.

Do you support current punishments for pirates?

Depends which ones you count as current and for what countries. Fines for copyright infringement (which is what piracy is) are okay in my book. Jail time is a stupid knee-jerk reaction. Any kind of legal action should require proof (unlike the UK bill that is trying to be pushed through right now)

What do you believe the future will be for digital piracy?

Some of the smartest (in this field) people on the planet are cracking all the DRM on both software and hardware so I doubt very much it would ever be stopped. Or for that matter even a point reached where protection isn't circumvented within hours of release. Hardware protections would limit the problem to dedicated people and remove casual piracy mind you.

[Jimmy]

Redistribution can be for personal use too. Giving your friend a burnt copy of a CD, for example.

Also RedKing, a shining example of great asian piracy tropes. I've seen similar things shopping in my city's chinese district, but yours wins hands down.

[Shades]

Redistribution can be for personal use too. Giving your friend a burnt copy of a CD, for example.

This is not personal use.

Edit: Unless content is personal, but then it's not redistribution just distribution.

[Jimmy]

It is, as opposed to selling said CD at a market. In the former case, the CD is intended to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes. In the latter, it's being used for profit.

[Phmcw]

Something that cost nothing should be free. A digital album cost nothing to copy, thus should be free.
Entertainment industry would be screwed? Well, so were copyist monk after Gutenberg.
And there is still performance and donations.
Anyway stopping it would take spying on any exchange of data.

[Shades]

It is, as opposed to selling said CD at a market. In the former case, the CD is intended to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes. In the latter, it's being used for profit.

Non-commercial yes, personal no.

But if you insist on that definition then you can take my point as being against personal redistribution.

Something that cost nothing should be free. A digital album cost nothing to copy, thus should be free.
Entertainment industry would be screwed? Well, so were copyist monk after Gutenberg.
And there is still performance and donations.
Anyway stopping it would take spying on any exchange of data.

It doesn't cost nothing to make the content. Your buying the content not the medium of transfer. Your monk example is an apple and orange comparison as printed books are not free.


Edit: Wow I never thought I'd have to actually defend copyright, I feel dirty, but these arguments are misguided to say the least. There are plenty of sensible ones so stick to them.

[RedKing]

I figured either this was some serious false advertising, or TEH BEST MOVIE EVAR.

I am still laughing, and I've had at least 30 seconds of text editing during the last minute.

I must commend you good sir.

If I remember when I get home this evening, I'll take a pic and scan it. It is Intertubes-worthy.

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

Pirating music by artists who don't shift tonnes of shit singles is wrong.

[Phmcw]

@shade: The thing that you buy is the medium. The rest is propaganda.
The transfer of data is not free. But it is way less expensive, as is printed book comparing to hand written ones. Of a same order of magnitude if you compare ornate leather book to cheap paper printed ones.

[Shades]

@shade: The thing that you buy is the medium. The rest is propaganda.
The transfer of data is not free. But it is way less expensive, as is printed book comparing to hand written ones. Of a same order of magnitude if you compare ornate leather book to cheap paper printed ones.

Okay I'll agree it's part of the cost, but it certainly isn't all of it otherwise I could just be giving you a blank audio cd for $10, or even most of it, printing a cd costs very little as well. I'll also agree that media seems overpriced, although I imagine that is mostly the excessive cost publishers take for 'distribution' (online? right cause that took you effort) and so probably is overpriced. I don't know all the costs however so I'm happy to be corrected on that.