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Is piracy theft?

Lucky!

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You got 2,500 songs on your iTunes do ya? Question is, did you spend $2,500 on the songs? Chances are you didn't purchase all of the songs, or the software on your computer. Now, some people do actually legally purcahse their software and music. However, the majority of the population uses P2P networks such as ThePirateBay and other locations to get the illegal copies of whatever. However, is piracy theft? If you theive something, you are actually taking it correct? If you pirate something, you are making a copy of the original data and spreading it. So, back to my question, is piracy of software and music stealing? Give me your input and your stance.
 
I also think it is stealing, however, some pepople would say that it is sharing, which isn't stealing.
 
In a one word answer: YES!
 
Sure it's theft.

The difference between pirating and normal stealing is that pirating involves stealing potential money.

No one actually loses anything. The only thing lost is the possibility that someone would pay for it. And not even that in some cases. (If you pirate it first and then buy it absolutely nothing was lost.)

NightHawk said:
however, some pepople would say that it is sharing, which isn't stealing.
Sharing something you don't own is still stealing I think.
 
[font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Sharing something you don't own is still stealing I think.














[font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]What about sharing something you do own? This would still be file-sharing.

[font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I don't see piracy as theft because its not that you are taking something from someone so that they don't have it anymore. But I also am against all copyright and patent laws.
 
Temerit said:
What about sharing something you do own?



Like if you had purchased MS Word or Photoshop or something like that and shared it with a friend? Peer-to-Peer? Nope, technically I don't see it as theft.



I personally don't have a problem with piracy. If I was an artist and my work was shared online I would become more popular because of it. What's the use of making something and nobody will afford to pay for it? That would force the product to depreciate anyways because the demand is not there.
 
Temerit said:
[font=tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif]What about sharing something you do own?
That would be fine, but here's where the nitpicking comes in:
Fatal Dawn said:
Like if you had purchased MS Word or Photoshop or something like that and shared it with a friend?
You don't own them. You own the right to use those programs. It's a little weird, but it works that way.
Fatal Dawn said:
I personally don't have a problem with piracy. If I was an artist and my work was shared online I would become more popular because of it.
Same here.
 
Yeah, kind of like music in a way. If tons of people are downloading my music, then I become more popular. You will still have those that actually purchase the songs from either iTunes or the store,so I would still be making money.
 
If you borrow my intellectual property for your own reading pleasure, I might be upset, but my alternatives are limited.



If you do so and then turn it into a movie and make a profit from it.... there's this real dirtbag of a lawyer downtown that will want to have lunch with you and discuss it.



End of story.



(pun intended)
 
There exists a compiled way of looking at things, you can't simply utter the words yes, because it's not that simple, it's not that black and white. There exists a vast amount of individuals in the music industry and movie business that are making millions and millions of dollars for doing less work than the individuals that make not even a fourth of that. If I were one of those individuals making severely less amounts of money and working my ass off, I'd think that it's rightful for me to occasionally listen to a song or watch an episode of a show that I missed online. Ultimately, whilst piracy has arguably weakened the industries it has also enabled for them to spread popularity. For example, if somebody tells another person that a song is good, with a few swift clicks of a button, they can discover whether this individual is worthy of pursuing.



On the other-side of that coin, there exists several individuals, several little-guy individuals that committed to those particular movies or albums that could really use the paycheck, and you're taking that from them. Although, if you expect for me to pay ninety cents for a three minute song, you should also expect for Red Foreman's shoe to be driven up your ass in the near future as well. Ultimately, is piracy theft? Perhaps, but you could also say that the prices expected are robbery as well.
 
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