this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025

399 points (95.2% liked)

Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

57474 readers

1135 users here now

⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.

Rules • Full Version

1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy

2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote

3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs

4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others

Loot, Pillage, & Plunder

📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):

🏴‍☠️ Other communities

Torrenting:

Gaming:

💰 Please help cover server costs.


Ko-fi	Liberapay

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

399

It is always morally acceptable to pirate things made by giant corporations (feddit.org)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

100 comments fedilink hide all child comments

No, it's not like stealing a physical item from a store.

"stealing" a digital copy of a movie, tv show or a game is like if the item you're stealing from a store is infinitely copyable. Like the replicator from star trek...or that one episode of Sabrina the teenage witch with that box that can make a perfect copy of everything you put inside of it.

Of course I personally would never pirate anything, no matter how much streaming services increase their prices or how much they crack down on VPN usage to get around geo-restrictions, PIRACY IS BAD AND ONLY BAD PEOPLE DO IT.

I've never pirated anything in my whole life!

There are people who understand what I'm saying...but apparently most people don't get it.

Of course that means I still would never pirate anything. That would be horrible to "steal" a copy of a movie or a TV show

(page 2) 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

my view on it lies in two seperate buckets:

if the thing being pirated is vastly overpriced for its function i don't see it as immoral
if the thing being pirated is no longer available or was never made available for private ownership, ie only able to be streamed and only available on said service so long as the host streamer still has rights to do so, it isn't immoral.

and just to be clear, i don't see piracy as inherently evil or anticapitalistic. there have been several books and apps that i pirated that i liked and converted to an actual buyer to get more books in the series or get updates to the program.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Private property is theft piracy in all forms is morally exceptable. DMCA actively harms progress, and this isn't some techbro take as I disagree with AI.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Can you further expand on why you think it's bad? I'm generally curious.

load more comments (2 replies)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

And yet you can borrow anything from the local library for free and its considered totally fine and not pirating.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It is always morally acceptable to pirate things ~~made by giant corporations~~

Fixed it for you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'd make a point saying that there's a personal moral and a broader societal understanding of morality, and they don't always align.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

That's a fair point.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I mean. I remember an article about an Amiga program that everyone used cracked, that only sold 1 copy. Sucks to be a small author in such a scenario.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Personally I don't really care too much about whether it's moral or not. I pirate when I feel like it and don't when I don't feel like it. I also pay for some things that I pirated before and enjoyed as long as it isn't too expensive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Big agree, also now I want to rewatch Sabrina the Teenage Witch lol

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

myth: ~~cable~~ piracy is wrong.

fact: ~~cable~~ companies are big, faceless corporations which makes it okay!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Piracy is great because it helps you not support corporation’s greed. They can’t profit off of you 😄

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

But of course, piracy is bad. That's why you shouldn't ever do it! Why do you think every corporation has to get government handouts from the tax payers? Because we keep stealing from them....I mean...You keep stealing from them. I would never do that and I certainly don't ever do that. I haven't paid for any movies in over 10 years, so obviously that means I just don't watch anything that costs money to see.

I use a privacy friendly VPN that allows P2P because I play games online and no other reason

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

It literally depends on your morals… it’s a question only you can answer.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I mean, the replicator is making food out of SOMETHING. I'm guessing it's some kind of waste produce from the engine room. It needs matter to operate. It can't create ex-nihilo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

The replicator from Star Trek makes matter out of pure energy, not out of other matter. It can make almost anything out of matter, so long as it has the molecular pattern on file, and the ship has enough energy available to power the replicators. That energy comes primarily from energy storage dedicated to replicator production, but in emergencies where a massive amount of matter need fabricated, additional power can be provided by the warp core.

load more comments (4 replies)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

The only person stealing is the one who circumvents the DRM and shares it. It’s not stealing to see or hear something.

load more comments