And I don’t subscribe to the “but my HTTP requests” rationalization that’s so common here on HN.
- an old film (the Maltese Falcon, Wizard of Oz, Wings [1927 silent film])
- a really bad film (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
- something you already own but don't have access to at the moment
- anime
- none of the above?
Would you buy the DVD boxset or perhaps the final season?
Or maybe download the last few episodes?
I used to think kind of like this, but came to the realization that it doesn't matter, at least for movies. First, it's not "people" that expect you to pay for it, it's corporations, and they don't really make money from you directly; if you pirated a movie instead of buying it, it really makes no difference, because either they came out in the cinema and the companies expect to make as much money as possible from the cinema ticket sales, or it came out on streaming which has a really muddy economic calculation. It's much different than, for example, a band's album on Bandcamp or a short film on Vimeo. Second, you're not even really "taking" something in the sense that you're not depriving someone else of the thing you have now, because it's digital, unlike if you stole a Blu-ray from someone's home or off of a shelf. Thirdly, sometimes it's legitimately not possible to get certain media other than pirating. There are multiple movies that I've wanted to watch and pay for but couldn't because of rights issues, and in those situations I'd have no option but to pirate or ask a friend to "get" me a copy.
Essentially, if it's a small artist or filmmaker, support them directly, and if you want to see a movie, go to the cinema to watch it if you can. Shows might be a different matter, but I also think they fall under the same "streaming economics" model where the pirate makes little/no difference in reality and you often can't even pay for the show individually if you wanted to.
Or Sony just steals it from you.
Stealing a banana deprives the store of the banana and the revenue from the sale of the banana.
Pirating media does not deprive anyone of anything. And no, pirated media does not equal lost sale. It does not remove the media from the streaming site nor does it prevent the streaming site from profiting from the piece of media.
People need to stop making this analogy as is does not work for digital media.
Are taxes and parking tickets on the list? I feel like I shouldn't have to pay those.
> Pirating media does not deprive anyone of anything. And no, pirated media does not equal lost sale.
What about software? Should we not have to pay for that either? What about the software you make a living writing? Is that exempt from the list?
If I, a stranger, took your car out of your driveway without permission, is it stealing if I promised to return it?
A good example of where the lines of "stealing" are blurry could be this: A friend of yours has a login to Amazon Prime, and gives you the login credentials, which let you watch a show you would have otherwise had to pay for or somehow acquire. Is this stealing? Similarly, if you go to a public library in a city you don't live in, with a card of a friend's, and check out a book, is it stealing?
Yes. People should pay for both software and media. But piracy is not stealing regardless.
If the deal is I give the seller money and get the product, that's fine. But if next month the seller says actually now even though you're paying me I'm going to show you ads anyways, or yeah you gave me money but I've decided to take back the product without refunding you[0]... it is easy to become sympathetic to pirates.
[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/playstation-is-erasi...
if you could copy bananas without effort you would get rid of the hunger across the World and then get the Nobel Peace Prize
We should. Also The Software should be Free to copy, modify, sell the changes, use it however we like and give the same rights to others!
If someone takes a movie or show episode, there's plenty for anyone who comes after them.
Meanwhile, if the store starts running a scam after ruining the market for bananas, yeah -they fucked me over so fuck them too.
Its gone too fucking long towards extreme copyright and gimmee programs like the DMCA. Piracy is that counteracting force.
Pirate it all. No other lever can make these companies correct.
This isn’t as tricky as you think it is!
You don’t watch, read, listen to, play, etc. those things.
If I want to watch an old film, a bad film, or an old bad film, I pay for it or I don’t watch it.
I’ve bought films on Amazon rather than get off my butt to put the DVD in the player. So you can guess that if I don’t have access to it at the moment that I’ll pay for it. I bought the DVD, I didn’t buy the right to download the movie (unless it was one of those DVDs with a download code included).
I have 0 interest in anime.
I would just buy the DVD if I really wanted to see it. I wouldn’t download the last few episodes.
I used to take the "this content is not available in your region" when trying to buy a kindle book as an excuse to pirate. If they don't want my money, they clearly don't care.
Now I stopped caring altogether though.
There’s plenty of things to watch and read. If something isn’t available legally to me, I’ll find something else.