Is it okay to Pirate games?

[SpokenTruth]

Slap&Ride said:

vivster said:

Pirates copy strings of 1s and 0s. So yes, what they are doing might be ok, depending on your ethics. Most of the time pirates literally don't hurt anyone because they didn't intend to pay money in the first place. And sometimes pirating is even beneficial. So I would reject opinions that regard every instance of piracy as bad.

It's actually quite similar to the second hand market, which is universally regarded as a positive thing(discounting publishers). It's a curious thing.

Well yes I think that might be the thing. Pirates don't steal - they copy, co there is no direct damage to someone. The "copy not steal" thing is the gray area.

It's not gray at all. 

Imagine being a photographer selling your photographs.  But instead of buying them, someone copies them. 

Imagine being a website template maker selling your templates.  But instead of buying them, someone copies them.

Imagine making music and selling that music online.  But instead of buying them, someone copies them.

 

The usual response is "but those are individual people and not a company".  Yet that doesn't fly because that suggests you can steal anything so long as it's from a big company.  Stealing is stealing.  There are justifications such as starvation and health but not entertainment.