this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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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!

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[–] Kekzkrieger@feddit.org 1 points 11 minutes ago

My moral is always on match with that of the company so in most cases everything is acceptable.

[–] Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 35 minutes ago

Rage bait. Yawn.

Given that no one makes a fuss about it when corporations do the stealing, I think so.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 2 hours ago

Worrying about "property" of any parasite is something that I never bother to do.

Giving money to your enemy is idiotic tho.

There is a class war out there and normies are too busy funding their oppressors

[–] Draegur@lemm.ee 19 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

perhaps the only ethical consumption under capitalism is that which denies capitalists their profit.

[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 2 points 2 hours ago

I mean...if the movie is good you should support it. Vote with your wallet.

[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 40 points 6 hours ago (3 children)

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

I'd argue stealing physical items from massive corporations is also morally acceptable. If you shoplift from a small mom & pop store, you're actively hurting your community, however, if you shoplift from Wal-Mart, you're actively hurting an entity which is hurting your community, therefore helping your community.

[–] Alice@beehaw.org 17 points 5 hours ago

Shoplifting from Walmart hurts my knees because the boss won't believe that our onhand numbers are wrong and makes me check high and low before I can nil pick it 🥲

This isn't an ethical argument against shoplifting btw, this is an ethical argument in favor of nuking Walmart

[–] med@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 hours ago

Staling sustinence from societal cancer is practically an immune response.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org -5 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

If you shoplift from a small mom & pop store, you're actively hurting your community

Unless you're part of a riot, then it's okay.

[–] yozul@beehaw.org 4 points 2 hours ago

Terrible bait. I'm disappointed.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 10 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The number of examples of media becoming unreachable to paying consumers keeps growing.

Warner Brothers (Max) is the greatest example of this. Years of content from Cartoon Network just disappeared, leaving the consumer no legal avenue to enjoy some of their favorite shows.

I do not advocate for piracy. I advocate for archiving.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 5 points 3 hours ago

I do not advocate for piracy. I advocate for archiving.

Exactly. And if the assholes make it illegal for librarians, well then yo ho ho.

[–] Zier@fedia.io 7 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

When you download music online for free and prevent the company from making a profit off of a creative work by the artist, that they prevented from making a profit & royalties, is that wrong? Doubtful. You can always send the artist money directly if you want to support them.

[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 3 points 2 hours ago

the DMCA doesn't protect the artists or any of the singers, it protects the shitty record labels and the money that the executives at those companies get

[–] Enkers@sh.itjust.works 25 points 6 hours ago

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If buying isn't owning, then pirating can't be stealing.

[–] noorbeast@lemmy.zip 18 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I would like to suggest an alternate perspective, that digital media be beholden to protocols not platforms.

In other words lets focus on the drivers of competition...most evidence suggests that piracy goes down in response to easily accessible and affordable market conditions.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 2 points 3 hours ago

most evidence suggests that piracy goes down in response to easily accessible and affordable market conditions.

The assholes know this too. We're about due for another round of deshitifcation, just long enough to restore complacency.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Stealing a physical item from a giant corporate store is also always morally acceptable.

Having power neurologically suppresses empathy. Therefor resources controlled by the powerful will on average be used more harmfully. Taking resources from the powerful reduces total harm done.

You will use a loaf of bread less harmfully than Walmart will use the profit from it.

[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Stealing a physical item from a giant corporate store is also always morally acceptable.

not really, it makes the store lock everything up behind plexiglass creating more friction for paying customers too.

Of course, theft wouldn't happen nearly as much if no one was desperate the survive, but even then there'd still be entitled assholes that want even more.

PIRACY IS BAD AND ONLY BAD PEOPLE DO IT.

I’ve never pirated anything in my whole life!

Good thing you said that, I was about to send some agents to have a "nice chat" with you.

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

"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.

What if it's a physical Blu-ray? Those are infinitely copyable.

[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

physical media is a physical it's a finite item. digital media can be copied infinitely

the reason why physical media is getting harder and harder to find is because the copyright nazis can't control it. If they want to memory-hole a scene, they can't change the content of that blu-ray disc with the original version on it

[–] killabeezio@lemm.ee 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] ThatGuyNamedZeus@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

PIRACY IS WRONG AND IMMORAL! YOU SHOULD NEVER PIRATE ANYTHING! FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS PIRATE THINGS!

[–] ComradeMiao@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago

and steal other things as well

[–] antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 4 hours ago

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