Err no its not.

Number of people worldwide taken to court for "theft" over piracy exactly zero.

Piracy in the sense of I get something I didn't pay for I am against.

I am *FOR* is the ability to do whatever I want (legally) with media and games that I bought.

I should be able to take a movie that I bought (because I did by the movie, not a license) and put it on any device that I own. That is way beyond "fair use".

I should be able to back up whatever games I own. I should be able to take a game that I own in one format and put it in another if I have the technical means (i.e. I have PSOne game on disc, I have a PSP which can play PSOne games but has no CD reader, I should be able to take the game I own and play it on a system I own that plays that game).

So, basically, DRM is the devil and I hate pirates.

I believe piracy is immoral and wrong, but I engage in it because it is easy, free, and I cannot afford all the things I downloaded. I believe that attempts at justifying it are wrong and hypocritical.

Thanks for your help everyone :P Much appreciated.

Well I grew up in a place where there were more pirated stuff than original stuff. Because of that, I don't have that much guilt.

But even then, I always try to buy the original as much as possible. I'm a "means justify the ends" kind of person so even if I played both pirated and original with the same quality, I will always enjoy the original more.

Nowadays, since I have a job and all that, I only pirate stuff on times where it's not available in the country (like Touhou and Mother 3). I will buy them if they were released here though.

Regardless of the actual impact of piracy, game companies have used it as a bogeyman of sorts to lock down their games. The result has been that the pirated version performs more reliably than the legitimate product, which has only driven people to piracy. The real question is when the developers pushing DRM will realize the self-fulfilling prophecy of locking down their products and treating their paying customers like criminals, and stop wasting their time on it.

Before I get to your comment, I just want to say GREAT thread, lots of good ideas floating around. As for what's right and what's not, that's not important, but it's cool to see all these viewpoints.

As to this comment, I do kind of agree, but there's soemthing I want to point out. In essence, the major artists are in little 'danger' over piracy. Lady Gaga, John Mayer, DMB, etc. They make more than enough on merchandise alone to almost not need to worry at all about music sales. But the record companies take a HEAVY hit from piracy. They're already not making as much money from digital distribution (they overcharged on CD and stocking/handling and such). So try to understand their position with that. I don't think their approach is correct at all, but they need to do what they can, that's how all major businesses work.

Now the real issue though, in regards to music piracy, is it destroys smaller labels, and makes it all the harder for lesser artists to make a living. Sure, it can lead to more exposure for newer artists (very important) and the greats will rise through it, but the good artists will have a hard time from piracy. Studies show most (definitely not all though) people have no problem paying for quality. But what if something's only okay? What if the artist or creator could become SOO much better later, but doesn't get the chance because he/she/they is dropped from the label? New artists are hit hardest from piracy.

So, I do agree, the labels are being greedy, but so are the pirates. They want things for free. "It's not worth my money" is not a good justification. I know some people illegally download to get a sample or demo of something before they buy. Cool, I think there should be a better system for that in place to make that free, so there are no problems there. But there are too many people that just download everything they can, and maybe they purchase stuff as well, but the proportions are crazy. Maybe for every 100 songs they download, they'll buy 5. And it's not like they delete the stuff they don't really like or care much for.

@Encoded Nybble,

I like your take. We should be able to do almost anything we want (except copy and/or distribute) with what we purchase. Unfortunately, the whole entertainment industry is turning into a "buy licensing" thing than a "buy product". Essentially, in buying a movie, you're buying a right or license to view the movie, and not much else. You don't actually own the copy of the movie you own. It's unintuitive, consumer unfriendly, and almost just plain wrong. Hopefully the industry will turn away from that, but who knows.

I do think piracy as a whole is wrong, but so is the approach to fighting it. The laws need to be changed to be more realistic; a fine > a million dollars is ridiculous; and until that's changed, progress probably won't be made. Unfortunately, fairer laws would require more enforcement, which is more money, which no one wants to do/pay for.

Generally, piracy is stealing.

Of course, there are degrees within this. For example, some games are out of print, so the only way to get a copy is to copy it. In that instance, the only person losing out is a collector/speculator rather than the publisher/developer. However, that caveat disappears if the IP holder reissues the product.

It is also interesting how universities have gone from turning a blind eye to this type of activity to having to police it. Everyone should be familiar with university policies that the recording industry has pushed through making them have to police (excessive) downloads. Over 20 years ago, profs basically said "You need (X-SOFTWARE). I don't care how you get it."

Mike from Morgantown

Honestly, my stance is "do what you gotta do". I pirate some things and buy others. Haven't pirated at all this gen because the option is completely unavailable for me but it's possible I could have pirated some ps3 games if I could.

I should add that I dont consider it immoral or wrong because I question why its available in the first place. Its like leaving money on the floor in the middle of the street and calling someone a thief for picking it up. I know its not the creators fault that their content is available on the internet for free, but its there so hey, I dont mind saving some money.

I have absolutely no problem with software piracy. But like many ppl in the thread have pointed out, there are different levels to piracy. I don't download movies/games and wholesale them. If I download a song, it's because I like that artist and want to hear that song. There are many people in the world who cannot afford the games that they want to play. There are many people who would like to listen to an artist, but don't have the money to dish out on their album.

I think it's extremely unfair to say that a rich dude should be able to play every game he wants, while another, less fortunate person, has to sit around playing the same game for 5 years. If you can afford a game, or if you are a big fan of a game series, you should deffinitley go out and buy that game. I have bought many multiplatform games on my PS3 (e.g., FFXIII, GTAIV) when I could easily just download them for my 360. I did this to support the studios, and because I'm not as broke as I once was.

LONG LIVE DARK ALEX!