| SamuelRSmith said: I believe it is a matter of property rights. At the end of the day, the companies own the rights to the song/movie/game/whatever. Just because you buy a copy, it does not make it your property. What in effect is happening is you exchanging your money for a licence to use the property. So, no, I don't agree with this "I bought it, it's mine", because that simply isn't true. That said, I don't agree with bills like SOPA and PIPA, either. Property claims should be done through the civil court, and property in terms of say, a song, is no different to property as say, your front garden. If somebody drives their car through your front garden and smashes the place up, you can take them to court on a civil matter, and attempt to sue them to gain financial compensation. I see no reason why piracy cannot work like this. A company has reason to believe you're pirating their shiz, they take you to court and sue you (no fines), and the judge determines the damage and the amount that the defender should pay. Piracy is a matter of property rights, and should be handled as such. Personally, I believe the record companies make terrible business decisions through things like DRM, region locking (actually there is a sound logic behind this, if they're still selling in all markets), and other activities, but as they are the property owners, it is their decision to make. |
Piracy is merely another force of economics if you frame it like that. Piracy is trying to tell these companies that their business models are broken and that they have to fix them, but the companies, operating in a corporatist society, merely appeal to the government for help. All anti-piracy initiatives and laws are really, at their core, just like the subsidies that I know you so loathe.
The odd thing, of course, is that i favor subsidies in certain situations, but generally disagree with antipiracy legislation
At the end of the day, media should be easier to buy. I do not, like some, completely morally justify piracy, nor do i just wish everything should be free forever, but the fact of the matter is legitimate purchases should be competitive with piracy alternatives, if not in terms of price, then in terms of usability. DRM needs to die, things need to get cheaper, artists need to be able to more directly reach out to consumers without the corporate middleman getting in the way, content needs to be released faster. Piracy is an effective market pressure to guarantee that these things happen, and they will happen, so long as vigilant voters make sure that the greedy media moguls can't just turn to the government to bail them out of their bad business practices
Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.
