| Erisian said: it also encourages word-of-mouth and growing fanbase. It's not a black and white issue. |
It's not a black and white issue. There can actually be benefits to having your stuff pirated. I'm not arguing the rights and wrongs of piracy. I admitted earlier that I am not above pirating work when I feel the price is out of line, the company behind the work is unfair for whatever reason, etc.
But piracy is stealing. The same way I'd end up in jail for theft if I broken into Google HQ and took their algorithm for search analysis, piracy is stealing. After all, Google wouldn't lose that algorithm. They'd still be able to use it for whatever they like. I only duplicated it for my own use. Taking something that isn't yours without permission of the owner/creator is stealing. It has been identified as such since intellectual property became a commodity a thousand or more years ago. Piracy is no different and deserves no exclusion just because it's widespread.
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