Whats your take on Piracy?

[Roto13]

I seriously don't understand why you guys are trying to rely on these technicalities to claim that it's not theft. What's the point? Does not being labeled a thief really make that much of a difference to you? Like I said earlier in the thread, does it really make you feel better about yourself?

I understand stealing to be taking something (even if that "something" is a copy) that does not belong to you and not properly paying for it. Piracy is taking something (again a COPY is SOMETHING) that doesn't belong to you.

You can argue all you want about infringement and how stealing a car is sooooo different from stealing Photoshop but any person with common sense can look at the situation, see that someone is getting Photoshop for free when they should be paying for it, and determine that what just happened was theft.

I don't think anybody is arguing that it's not illegal or wrong. (In fact I've made sure to be as clear as possible that just because it's not technically stealing, that certainly doesn't absolve anyone of the crime.) For me, at least, it's not the label, I'm just a fan of accuracy. xD If this was theft I'd be fine with being labeled a thief, but it's not. You're not even stealing a copy. The copy isn't taken from anyone who doesn't want you to have it. If I copy a DVD, I'm the one making the copy in the first place so it's mine, even if it is illegal. Buying a DVD grants you the license to watch and use it. Copying the DVD lets you watch the content without a license. That's the illegal part.

Okay, fine. Technicalities aside, you're getting something for free when you should be paying for it-- it's stealing. We're all rotten thieves.

Is it lonely up there on your pedestal?

Miriel already stated that she downloads stuff. She's not trying to look down on anyone, since she's as guilty as the rest of us. :P She's arguing for the same reason I'm arguing.

In this ENTIRE thread, I was never talking about legalities. I keep saying this over and over and people don't seem to get it. I don't care about technicalities or what the law says or whether it's illegal, legal, partly legal, whether anyone is getting hurt by it, what your motives are, ETC. You guys keep bringing up that stuff everytime I post, when I'm not even arguing any of that stuff. So I dunno how you can say that your law book "disagrees" with me when I was never talking about the law.

Because the law decides what counts as stealing and what doesn't, and that definition doesn't cover what we're talking about. You think it's stealing, some of us and, more importantly, the law disagree.

I'll say this AGAIN, common sense says that if you take something that doesn't belong to you and you don't pay for it, you're stealing.

What do I think about piracy, that's the topic of the thread. I think it's stealing. Again and again people try and justify their actions and try and make it seem less than what it is. Companies are too rich! I'm actually HELPING them! Prices are too expensive! Whatever. I honestly don't care about any of that stuff. I don't care what people's motivations are and if quarterly reports are being affected by piracy. I just call it like I see it, and people are getting soooo offended by it. :p

Yeah, what's up with that? xD I'm not offended, for what it's worth.