Aug 27th, 2008 | Piracy survey

Is piracy a theft?



Is piracy a theft?


44 votes, 164 views , 7 comments
 
 
Poll tags:Piracy, Theft

 
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Comments (7)
Xenosilvano
(Reply)
Portugal

posted Aug 2nd, 2009 at 12:39 CDT

hahaha

Engreirte
(Reply)
California, United States

posted Aug 28th, 2008 at 10:55 CDT

My husband is a director of a major software company.  They employ highly paid programmers, engineers, etc., not the pirates.  Some software for other companies is a free download because advertisers pick up the bill essentially.  Loaning is legal if the loaner consents.

Philgtaylor
(Reply)
Australia

posted Aug 28th, 2008 at 00:40 CDT

(A) Making motion pictures, software  and video games takes lots and lots of money. This must all be paid for.(B) However, if the producers fail to make these works easily available and at a reasonable price, then people will make copies for themselves. If, for example, they fail to put Withnail and I onto DVD, then anybody who wants to see it, will try to find it from an alternate source.-However, if the alternate source for Withnail and I lacks quality or DVD extras like commentary and deleted scenes and documentaries and stuff, then those who have pirated versions will be tempted to buy the full version. I feel more sorry for the smaller people who have their stuff ripped off and used for profit without permission.

Drowlord
(Reply)
Texas, United States

posted Aug 27th, 2008 at 13:19 CDT

If I have something, and someone else steals it, then I am deprived the use of that stolen thing.  Piracy isn't similar to theft.  If I invent something, and someone else copies my invention for their personal purposes, a patent law doesn't protect me.  Piracy isn't similar to other forms of intellectual property infringement.  What's the basis for anti-piracy law?  It exists in an ethical vacuum that is fundamentally at odds with the underlying morality that creates public education, public libraries, and even the internet...  It's a business ethic that hails to monopoly -- a widely recognized tool for victimizing consumers.-I might be more sympathetic to media creators if they hadn't stuffed trunkloads of cash into lawmaker's pockets to grossly extend "copy protection" and radically reduced the "public domain" portion of the original social contract that formed a legal balance between producers and consumers.  Modern copyright law is severely unbalanced.

Drowlord
(Reply)
Texas, United States

posted Aug 27th, 2008 at 14:56 CDT

It's not "stealing" anyone's labor.  Your husband's book isn't being taken away from him, nor is it diminishing his authorship or ownership of the work in any way.  It's potentially "damaging the demand for" his work in a supply/demand economic.  I only say "potentially," because many people will consume media for free which they would not consume for a price.  I don't honestly see piracy as being ethically different from loaning someone a book or a video -- which is perfectly legal and has the exact same economic effect on "the demand for" a creative person's work.

Gigglybritches
(Reply)
Texas, United States

posted Aug 27th, 2008 at 14:16 CDT

My husband is an author. If someone photocopied one of his books and handed it out to their friends then he isn't being paid for his work. Piracy is intellectual property theft. My husband doesn't sacrifice family time to work on a book for 2 years 80 hours a week to give it away. I'm shocked at how many people think it's ok.You are stealing someones labor and depriving the creator of their livlihood.

Djkindagardin
(Reply)
Rhode Island, United States

posted Aug 27th, 2008 at 13:48 CDT

Well despite certain variable factors in favor of the theft argument, my answer has got to be no.Piracy is not theft, Piracy is piracy. It is usally more creative than theft.I agree with Drowlord that it is more of  crime of ethics, and strictly ethics. Although one mans' ethical behavior is another mans' crime. Go figure.

 
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