6 ms·

it boggles my mind how comfortable everybody seems able to justify it. I expect and tolerate a certain level of lawbreaking from teens and pre-"settling down"

it boggles my mind how comfortable everybody seems able to justify it. I expect and tolerate a certain level of lawbreaking from teens and pre-"settling down" young adults. Categorically, I put piracy somewhere among underage drinking, using soft drugs, and irresponsible vehicle operation. The pettiest of petty crime. Do those boggle your mind too? I don't expect anyone to inherently respect IP law in the portions of their life where they're broke. Unless someone close to them makes money off of copywritten material.

bmelton 11y ago
I would almost certainly not choose to prosecute someone hungry for stealing my food. I might even steal food from another if I or my family were hungry enough. There's a need there that, if unsatisfied by any other option, is resolved through theft, and I accept that just fine. We're not talking about food though, we're talking about Orange is the New Black, which is far from a necessity. Beyond that, if I thought it was just broke teens pirating, then I probably wouldn't feel the need to speak up, but it's not nearly limited to that demographic. I have six-figure-income, grown up friends who swap pirated seasons of TV shows and in-theater movies with each other on Plex.
- bryanlarsen 11y ago
  Your friends also probably regularly exceed the speed limit on the freeway. This could have potentially deadly consequences, so is arguably a much worse crime than non-commercial copyright infringement. But both crimes are socially acceptable, so they do it.
  - winter_blue 11y ago
    No, they don't. I have 35-year old friends who make upwards of $150k, and still pirate movies and TV shows. But they're smart enough to stay within the speed limit. They said it was something about the probability of dying being really high while speeding, and them wanting to stay alive...
    - superuser2 11y ago
      Going slower than the flow of traffic so that everyone has to change lanes to pass you is also not doing wonders for the probability of death.
      - neutronicus 11y ago
        Actually it is. You're much safer going 59 than 80, even if everyone else wants to go 80. You're in front of them; they see you and take appropriate action.
        superuser2 11y ago
        There is not much that can go wrong while driving in a straight line at constant speed. The actions they take to get around you (braking, lane changes) create a great deal more opportunities for collision. Speed doesn't kill, speed differentials do. You should not go drastically slower than the speed of traffic for the same reason you shouldn't go drastically faster than it.
        sageikosa 11y ago
        Speed differentials, and loss of control at cruising speed. A 5 mph tap and a 5 mph relative tap at 60 mph on a highway with a slight (for the speed) bend are two entirely different things.
    - JupiterMoon 11y ago
      We can't have the same social circle then I have similar age friends making far less money that used to pirate films (when they made no money) but now pay for them. They almost all speed though.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - lucaspiller 11y ago
    > Your friends also probably regularly exceed the speed limit on the freeway. At least on trips I've taken to the US, people there seem a lot more inclined to stay within the speed limits than they are in Europe. Take a trip on a UK motorway where there isn't heavy traffic, and you'll find at least 50% of people are going over the 70mph limit.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  > Beyond that, if I thought it was just broke teens pirating, then I probably wouldn't feel the need to speak up, but it's not nearly limited to that demographic. I have six-figure-income, grown up friends who swap pirated seasons of TV shows and in-theater movies with each other on Plex. Yes, but you are an American who largely has legal access to the content at a reasonable price in relation to your income. That isn't true of some guy in Mexico who makes $5k/year and is Region 4 with Australia.
- pharrington 11y ago
  The analogy is less someone stealing your food, and more someone copying your food. Also, you're literally Monsanto.
- mixmastamyk 11y ago
  The age-old question: why is it not easiest to be honest? Until that is fixed they'll get zero sympathy from most of us. Also from the international perspective, consider if shows were available in California, but not Nevada. Artificially limiting an information product due to geography is a quaint 20th century idea.
- belorn 11y ago
  Humans are social animals and have a need for cultural interaction. There is plenty of historical examples where groups has been denied this, like slaves being forbidden to play music, or cults that forbade children to access books, radio and TV, and the negative impact has been studied to a certain degree. I have read about lack of culture being linked with increased violence, less social abilities, lower income later in life, and (obviously) lower creativity in the arts. With that comes social isolation which has direct health impact with increased stress and other really bad symptoms. If a person take it upon themselves to eliminate the disadvantage from being poor by accessing culture illegally, which has no harmful impact to anything or anyone physically, then I don't blame them, especially if they are a child. Its not their fault that the incentive model of culture demands that poor people must be denied access in order to force rich people to pay.
  - waterlesscloud 11y ago
    You don't have a need to watch current TV shows. You really don't.
    - Goronmon 11y ago
      We don't need much of anything other than some minimum amount of food, water and the ability to sleep somewhere. Roads, clothes, education, healthcare, music, etc are all optional.
    - chris_wot 11y ago
      You don't need to travel on the bus, you can walk. You don't need to eat with white people if you are black. You don't need to get married if you aren't heterosexual. You really don't.
      - res0nat0r 11y ago
        Comparing these issues above to justify why you should be able to watch Game of Thrones for free ins't a very good argument.

bmelton 11y ago

I would almost certainly not choose to prosecute someone hungry for stealing my food. I might even steal food from another if I or my family were hungry enough. There's a need there that, if unsatisfied by any other option, is resolved through theft, and I accept that just fine. We're not talking about food though, we're talking about Orange is the New Black, which is far from a necessity. Beyond that, if I thought it was just broke teens pirating, then I probably wouldn't feel the need to speak up, but it's not nearly limited to that demographic. I have six-figure-income, grown up friends who swap pirated seasons of TV shows and in-theater movies with each other on Plex.

bryanlarsen 11y ago
Your friends also probably regularly exceed the speed limit on the freeway. This could have potentially deadly consequences, so is arguably a much worse crime than non-commercial copyright infringement. But both crimes are socially acceptable, so they do it.
- winter_blue 11y ago
  No, they don't. I have 35-year old friends who make upwards of $150k, and still pirate movies and TV shows. But they're smart enough to stay within the speed limit. They said it was something about the probability of dying being really high while speeding, and them wanting to stay alive...
  - superuser2 11y ago
    Going slower than the flow of traffic so that everyone has to change lanes to pass you is also not doing wonders for the probability of death.
    - neutronicus 11y ago
      Actually it is. You're much safer going 59 than 80, even if everyone else wants to go 80. You're in front of them; they see you and take appropriate action.
      - superuser2 11y ago
        There is not much that can go wrong while driving in a straight line at constant speed. The actions they take to get around you (braking, lane changes) create a great deal more opportunities for collision. Speed doesn't kill, speed differentials do. You should not go drastically slower than the speed of traffic for the same reason you shouldn't go drastically faster than it.
        sageikosa 11y ago
        Speed differentials, and loss of control at cruising speed. A 5 mph tap and a 5 mph relative tap at 60 mph on a highway with a slight (for the speed) bend are two entirely different things.
  - JupiterMoon 11y ago
    We can't have the same social circle then I have similar age friends making far less money that used to pirate films (when they made no money) but now pay for them. They almost all speed though.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- lucaspiller 11y ago
  > Your friends also probably regularly exceed the speed limit on the freeway. At least on trips I've taken to the US, people there seem a lot more inclined to stay within the speed limits than they are in Europe. Take a trip on a UK motorway where there isn't heavy traffic, and you'll find at least 50% of people are going over the 70mph limit.
fweespeech 11y ago
> Beyond that, if I thought it was just broke teens pirating, then I probably wouldn't feel the need to speak up, but it's not nearly limited to that demographic. I have six-figure-income, grown up friends who swap pirated seasons of TV shows and in-theater movies with each other on Plex. Yes, but you are an American who largely has legal access to the content at a reasonable price in relation to your income. That isn't true of some guy in Mexico who makes $5k/year and is Region 4 with Australia.
pharrington 11y ago
The analogy is less someone stealing your food, and more someone copying your food. Also, you're literally Monsanto.
mixmastamyk 11y ago
The age-old question: why is it not easiest to be honest? Until that is fixed they'll get zero sympathy from most of us. Also from the international perspective, consider if shows were available in California, but not Nevada. Artificially limiting an information product due to geography is a quaint 20th century idea.
belorn 11y ago
Humans are social animals and have a need for cultural interaction. There is plenty of historical examples where groups has been denied this, like slaves being forbidden to play music, or cults that forbade children to access books, radio and TV, and the negative impact has been studied to a certain degree. I have read about lack of culture being linked with increased violence, less social abilities, lower income later in life, and (obviously) lower creativity in the arts. With that comes social isolation which has direct health impact with increased stress and other really bad symptoms. If a person take it upon themselves to eliminate the disadvantage from being poor by accessing culture illegally, which has no harmful impact to anything or anyone physically, then I don't blame them, especially if they are a child. Its not their fault that the incentive model of culture demands that poor people must be denied access in order to force rich people to pay.
- waterlesscloud 11y ago
  You don't have a need to watch current TV shows. You really don't.
  - Goronmon 11y ago
    We don't need much of anything other than some minimum amount of food, water and the ability to sleep somewhere. Roads, clothes, education, healthcare, music, etc are all optional.
  - chris_wot 11y ago
    You don't need to travel on the bus, you can walk. You don't need to eat with white people if you are black. You don't need to get married if you aren't heterosexual. You really don't.
    - res0nat0r 11y ago
      Comparing these issues above to justify why you should be able to watch Game of Thrones for free ins't a very good argument.