this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2025
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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The amount of people that take these moral high roads is fucking ridiculous.
Well, the faceless mega-corp made it difficult to purchase or stream
I don’t like that I have to play the game on Steam
Akshually I’m just copying it, so it’s not theft
There are too many streaming services, so I shouldn’t have to pay for ANOTHER service
I’m not depriving the content creator or publisher from any money, since I wasn’t going to pay for it regardless
Just fucking own up to it. You are downloading content that you did not pay for. I don’t take some enlightened stance when I download a movie; I just do it. What I’m doing is not right, but I still do what I do. I don’t try to justify it with some bullshit political take.
We all have our line on what we deem acceptable or not. The only piracy that, in my opinion, could have a leg to stand on is when it is actual lost media. No physical copies available, no way to stream or pay for it. Anything else is just the lies we tell ourselves to justify our actions.
Just admit that you could pay for the content if you wanted to, you just choose not to, because you are a pirate. You are depriving someone somewhere from a sale or some other form of revenue.
Edit: I worded “Just own it” poorly. Clarified it to “Just own up to it”. That was the original intent, just an oversight on my part.
I think pirating scientific papers is a good thing all around. The research isnt funded by the selling of access to those papers, much on the contrary.
I usually can't, actually. Not immediately anyway. But that doesn't stop me from paying for it when I can. Done it with plenty of games. And if I didn't have that option, which I primarily use for games I'm not entirely sure I'll stick with, well... I just wouldn't buy it. Full stop. Wouldn't be a consideration at all. There is no lost sale here, only the potential to fall in love with it enough to buy it when I eventually can.
Not saying this is some moral high ground. It's not. But plenty of folks just can't afford to gamble on whether or not they like something and end up paying it forward when they can.
When I return from the library instead of the bookstore it is with the deepest shame.
This is a specious analogy. e-books from libraries are already heavily controlled and are usually quite expensive to provide. Physical copies have their own inbuilt limits to distribution.
You're treating copyright like it's some sort of hardline moral stance against consuming any media you haven't directly paid for, when actually it's more like a very long list of compromises to balance the conflicting requirements of creators' needs to be compensated for their work versus society's need to benefit from that work. This is why lending libraries, fair use etc are legal and piracy isn't.
No, I'm providing a counter-example and rejecting the argument that only lost media entitles you to consume media for free.
And I’m saying that it’s a strawman, because that’s not the principle copyright law operated on in the first place.
Why are you stealing from libraries? Not cool, man
Yeah, me too. Especially when I only have a scale model PLA print of the car I downloaded.
Might I suggest the problem is capitalism. Without the everpresent threat of homelessness and starvation forced on us by the landlords, rampant price gouging of necessary goods like food, and the anti-lottery we all play every single fucking day with our own health, artists wouldn't need nearly so much compensation for their work. Piracy wouldn't matter, or even be required as a concept. I dream of living in a world without capitalism, but we don't. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
I too dream of living in a post-capitalist world. But I’d bet dollars to donuts that people will pirate things regardless of the cost. They don’t want to pay anything for content.
Yeah, OP's take is like that of petulant child arguing semantics as though it changed a thing. Doubly cringe for adding that second section at the bottom where he depicts his opponent giving up and agreeing with him.
Why is no one mentioning here that the business model shouldn't exist? If a copy can be made basically for free, there is no reason not to make it basically free. We should be providing everyone with the means to live regardless of their ability to sell stuff. If everyone was free to do whatever they please because their existence was provided for, people would still make media, because people love making things like that.
Of course that might mean that in the short term, while we don't do this, pirating might mean that some things stop existing. I'd be completely fine if all Hollywood movies and other shit disappeared overnight. Maybe then people would finally come to the understanding that our current model of doing things sucks.
Are you suggesting that all art should be free?
Eventually, yes. If everyone's needs are provided for, there is no requirement anymore to extract value from art, one can just make it and share it freely.
Copyright should be abolished.
the buisness model is essentially croud funding the movie after the movie is produced. Hollywood doesn't need the money, but triangle staff does.
They're are a million wrong ways to come at the wrong conclusion. So why then would we be surprised when many of the people who come to the right conclusion still do it for a variety of reasons? Perhaps the initial premise of why copyright should exist is conceptually riddled with holes.
Owning an idea is inherently capitalist, but the average person who encounters a problem won't spontaneously become anti-capitalist. They just know something seems wrong about this, but don't understand why. So they make up a story to address their cognitive dissonance, like nihilism.
How's the weather up there on that extremely high horse?
Just because you personally steal stuff you can afford to pay for doesn't mean that is what everyone else does. It's good that you own up to that, but don't project your failings onto others. If it's against your morals to 'pirate', quit doing it.
If you are unwilling to listen to or comprehend others peoples reasons, that's fine- just don't act like that makes us the same as you, because it doesn't.
I am not a Christian so I'm not beholden to their rules. Someone like you could claim I am a sinner and I should just own it. No, I don't have the same beliefs that you do so I am under no obligation to behave how you think I should.
Ok there buddy. There is no ‘high horse’ here. Piracy is piracy. People need to quit with their bullshit justifications. Just own up to it. I do. The fuck are you on about Christianity? There is literally no connection to religion/beliefs here.
People can’t afford to pay for it? Cool. It’s still piracy. One is still depriving the creator/studio/publisher/whatever of a sale.
But I can’t afford it! Therefore I deserve to have it for free!
Ridiculous.
🤣 Says the person actively judging others for their perceived moral failings, from their high horse.
You may not agree with it or understand it, and that's fine. I'm saying don't act like we all think that it's wrong like you do and are going against our own belief systems. You are the one doing that, not me.
Oh but there absolutely is, and you put literally zero effort into putting any thought into whether it did or not, your knee jerked and you went right back to defaulting your YOUR belief system and insisting everyone else follow it. Sounds exactly like some groups I could think of, I'll let you puzzle that one out for yourself.
You cant' afford to eat? Cool, it's still stealing when you nick a loaf or bread.
OH NO! You mean to tell me that I've deprived a billionaire of a couple of pennies?! I deserve to rot in hell.
I agree. It's ridiculous that you are only able to look at it from one very specific, capitalist boot licking pov and not even consider other peoples point of view. Must feel good to be so righteous and holy.
Oh my lord you are so dense. I don’t give a fuck why people do the things that they do. But these justifications are garbage. Again, just say “I don’t feel like paying for it”. That is it.
Steal bread because one can’t afford it? That really sucks. It is still stealing. Does it make people right or wrong? Well, in this case I think most people would understand.
And no, stealing bread for sustenance is in no way shape or form remotely comparable to downloading a movie or song. Are we all entitled to the all of the things in life that help us get through the monotony of existence? How about independent documentaries, where every dollar counts to the creators? Are you entitled to those?
At the end of the day, someone/studio spent hours/days/years working on the art that you feel like you deserve to have because you cannot afford it or whatever bullshit reason you want to conjure. It’s still piracy, and is still wrong.
If someone were to download my music, that I’ve spent multiple hours and days creating and editing, without paying, I’d be justifiably upset. If I release my music on a site like Bandcamp, it is because I’d like to enjoy some sort of benefit for my hard work. I don’t care what someone’s excuse is for pirating my work. It is not theirs, they do not get to decide that I don’t deserve to be paid. If I wanted the world to hear it for free, I’d release it on a platform where it is free. That is my, as the creator of the art, prerogative. It just so happens that I put it on platforms where people can hear it, with ads or subscription, which I deem to be fair. But outright downloading it deprives me of streams and ad revenue. I don’t fucking care what the excuse is. My art is not free. I understand why some artists get upset.
Does this make me a hypocrite? I suppose it does. I am doing wrong as well. I just don’t try to hide behind some sort of bullshit excuse. Just own up to it.
Perceived moral failings
Fuck off. I’m not judging anyone. Just merely stating facts. Piracy is piracy, no matter what way someone wants to spin it. Is it wrong? Yes. Am I wrong when I do it? Absolutely. I choose not to justify it.
Most people sure. You though? You don't give a fuck why people do the things that they do, remember?
You are right, because in the case of stealing, the person has deprived the owner of that bread. If the hungry person was able to copy the bread and leave the original bread untouched for the owner to eat, it would literally harm no one. Even if that person owned the 'intellectual property' of that bread.
You don't give a single fuck what someones reason is for doing what they do, yet you expect people to give fucks about what you value. It works both ways.
No it isn't. Piracy is robbery or other serious acts of violence committed at sea. "Piracy" is a name some 'clever' lawyer or corporate exec coined to convince people that breaking copyright laws was equivalent to violent crime.
Who died and made you arbiter of 'right' and 'wrong'? Was it your 'lord'?
Of course it does, I thought that was understood. What it doesn't make is other people hypocrites for breaking your own personal moral code.
Who is trying to hide? I have not made a single excuse, and I wont because I don't believe it's wrong like you do.
Own up to what? To crossing Jessica's line in the sand? Sure, I'll own up to that. Fuck your line. I piss on your line.
You clearly are lmfao. "What you are doing is wrong and nothing could possibly justify it, own up to it! QQ No judgment though" Fuck off with that.
Your own personal OPINION about the morality of copyright infringement is subjective. That isn't obvious?
Sure, you happily break your own moral code and then judge others for doing something that is not against their moral code. Somehow you think the world revolves around you and that you are the arbiter of 'right and wrong'.
I don't subscribe to your ignorant beliefs about copyright- so I'm not under the same obligation to obey them as you are.