Reasons for piracy

[Silas13013]

Has this already been thrown around?

[Muchoman1]

Not this exact question, but the topic sure has been

[dihartnell]

I think service, and in particular, accessability to content is an issue, EG tv series I cant get here either with Pay TV or Free to air or in the shops, so what choice would you have but download it somewhere. When you can get them its inconsistent. Eg I can get eries one of something and series 3 of something but not series two.

 

In terms of games, here in NZ they are just plain out expensive retail. $120 for new release game not uncommon. However I have in recent times found two solutions to that particular issue, www.cdwow.co.nz and Steam. With Steam I wait for the US Holidays as they often have great deals around then and CDWOW prices are around half usually, and quickly drop in price as they get older. I buy a lot more games these days compared to previously because they are good value for money.

[Black64]

I feel like this is all we talk about on OCC anymore. Piracy. SOOO BORING

 

+1, enough already.

[El_Capitan]

Lack of service or better service elsewhere is pretty spot on, here are a few examples:

1. The original Star Wars without any edits by George Lucas is no longer available, and only in DVD. Unless you find a used copy, the best place to get it is by pirating it. Most people have bought the VHS and DVD, and even Blueray versions, so it feels justified to be able to pirate a version that's no longer available.

 

2. Certain software costs money to upgrade to a new version every year. A few of mine are: Acronis Home True Image, PowerArchiver, BitDefender, PowerDVD, and SnagIt. I don't need to update mine every year, but there were instances where the version I bought were no longer available to download, and it was just easier to download illegally a copy I already owned. Nowadays, they do have archived versions of them, but sometimes you still need to contact Customer Support just so you can re-download it within a specified period of time.

 

3. I bought songs early before the days of iTunes and the like on actual CD's. Those CD's no longer exist, and I don't feel like paying for something I already paid for. Who has receipts for a product over 12 years ago, much less even 3 years unless it was purchased by credit card? Of course, for convenience, I just buy them again on iTunes for the songs I really like, but otherwise, if I wanted to hear those songs again and wanted to spend time to download them to listen to again, I would probably do so illegally because I feel justified that I already paid to listen to them.

 

Here's one example that's often overlooked: The DVR machine.

You can basically record any show that you have on cable or whatever service you have with a DVR or TIVO or something of that nature. You also have the option to keep it indefinitely (though it takes up a lot of hard drive space). The line is pretty fuzzy on whether that's legal or not, but it extends down to this. Suppose someone recorded it and uploaded it to somewhere where other people could download it. If it was shown on public air, or people already had seen it on TV, is that justified or illegal, still?

 

Who here hasn't snuck into a movie as a teen? I remember paying for one ticket, but staying to see an extra movie I always wanted to see right after it. That's a form of piracy, or something similar. Most theaters wouldn't allow you to sneak in your own food, and they overcharge food items in theaters. Anyways, different subject.

[Deathmineral]

I agree with Gabe's idea on how to reduce piracy, I think he is spot on and we said as much on yesterdays show. The way to curb piracy is not about laws but a change in the fiscal model used by the industries. However that being said the reasoning behind piracy is crap. People can come up with all the excuses they want but think about this, you are knowingly stealing for a movie, a song or a game or piece of software. We are not talking about stealing food to eat or something ti heat in the cold. We are not talking about needs but pure wants. When it comes to piracy the old saying applies, excuses are like bung holes, everyone has them and they all STINK!

 

People at the end of the day pirate for a single reason they feel they deserve something. They thing a company owes them the product or a lower price or other some such BS and then steal the item because they are not give what they are owed.

 

Now just for the record for years I was a huge pirate. I had massive collections of video games and music as well as more movies than I could ever watch. However I decided one day that all my excuses for doing this were not holding up and dumped it all to see if I was right. I have never looked back since and have missed nothing. My music needs are easily met by Pandora, my video needs I find I can easily meet with Hulu and Netflix. My gaming needs are simple to meet by waiting for sales, than you STEAM, or playing some of the many good F2P games out there. As for my productivity software, this is my job hence it is worth the effort for me to save for it to buy the best and I have. However even there I found great ways to legal buy at steep discounts.

 

While it is true the movie and music industry have blown up the impact of piracy out of proportion, the same level of truth exists that the computing world has minimized the impact out of proportional as well. Our tolerance of such behavior is just as bad as the draconian methods the music industry has tried to push through as laws onto us. We are as guilty as they in screwing this all up. See we can reduce piracy just as the industry can. They must change the way they think and get out of their old business model, accepting a mew model for distribution. We must also change the way we think, we must stop letting pirates think of themselves and our treating of them as funny little sub culture and call them what they are, thieves. We need to apply pier pressure to them and make it socially unacceptable for this kind of behavior and those two methods combined would greatly reduce piracy.

 

Now would it stop it? Of course not there is always a dung hole in the world that feels he is entitled to anything he wants and he can steal as he wishes. However can can curb the numbers to just the dung holes of the world.

I don't think that's how peer pressure works, what you're talking about is called bullying. That's what you're doing when you go around calling people names, not peer pressure.

 

In fact, peer pressure, even if used properly, would pretty much be totally ineffective at stopping piracy. Peer pressure doesn't work on the internet, when is the last time you got together with your friends on the internet and was able to encourage someone to think the same way as you? Most likely never because people don't go onto the internet to be like other people, to go onto the internet to be themselves.

[Kingfisher]

I don't think that's how peer pressure works, what you're talking about is called bullying. That's what you're doing when you go around calling people names, not peer pressure.

 

In fact, peer pressure, even if used properly, would pretty much be totally ineffective at stopping piracy. Peer pressure doesn't work on the internet, when is the last time you got together with your friends on the internet and was able to encourage someone to think the same way as you? Most likely never because people don't go onto the internet to be like other people, to go onto the internet to be themselves.

 

I think the word you are looking for is integrity Parents fail at teaching this to their kids. I am pretty sure all of you who support piracy have parents who failed at this.

[Deathmineral]

I think the word you are looking for is integrity Parents fail at teaching this to their kids. I am pretty sure all of you who support piracy have parents who failed at this.

This coming from the guy that can't make decisions about political views without the help of Pelosi.

 

I'm soooo worried about what someone like you thinks of me, it's just tearing my world apart.

 

Like I said before, it's the internet, no one gives a crap what you think of them, your opinion is meaningless, and you just helped me prove my point.

[Silas13013]

This coming from the guy that can't make decisions about political views without the help of Pelosi.

 

I'm soooo worried about what someone like you thinks of me, it's just tearing my world apart.

 

Like I said before, it's the internet, no one gives a crap what you think of them, your opinion is meaningless, and you just helped me prove my point.

Don't even respond to him. He is a child who can't control himself. Acknowledging him will only make it worse.

[Kingfisher]

This coming from the guy that can't make decisions about political views without the help of Pelosi.

 

I'm soooo worried about what someone like you thinks of me, it's just tearing my world apart.

 

Like I said before, it's the internet, no one gives a crap what you think of them, your opinion is meaningless, and you just helped me prove my point.

 

You can say what you will but a spade is a spade.

[Deathmineral]

Don't even respond to him. He is a child who can't control himself. Acknowledging him will only make it worse.

Ya I know, but sometimes you have to stop and let yourself get trolled once in a while, it is part of the fun of the internet I think. Kind of like when you go to the carnival and volunteer to be the guy in the Dunk Tank, it's all in good fun.

[NikoDG]

Lol, everyone just loves flaming Kingfisher don't they?