4 ms·

Unpopular Opinion: I think that if you're a game developer and you want people to go to literal prison for pirating your game, then you're a piece of trash.. In

Unpopular Opinion: I think that if you're a game developer and you want people to go to literal prison for pirating your game, then you're a piece of trash.. In all honesty, I wouldn't trust anyone that disagrees with this even if they told me the sky was blue. Man capitalism has made people so heartless. Edit: This is getting downvoted by people that are mad their version of agar.io hasn't made them rich yet. Oh please. I've made a couple games myself that didn't do good. You can't wish someone in prison for not buying your game...I'm sure if they had the money they would pay. It's not like you lose money. You simply didn't earn any off that one person.

Google234 6y ago
Unpopular Opinion: I think that if you're a store owner and you want people to go to literal prison for stealing from your store, then you're a piece of trash.. In all honesty, I wouldn't trust anyone that disagrees with this even if they told me the sky was blue. Man capitalism has made people so heartless.
- musicale 6y ago
  Since shoplifting isn't a felony, prison isn't usually an option. In some states petty shoplifting might even be an infraction (more like a traffic ticket or a fine for littering) rather than a misdemeanor. It certainly doesn't seem to be commensurate (or cost-effective) to send someone to jail (much less prison) for stealing $20 worth of merchandise (or passing a counterfeit $20 bill for that matter.) Not to mention that piracy (or illegal copying) isn't theft - it's copyright infringement. (Though that might actually be worse since the penalty could be $150K in statutory damages.)
- jessehorne 6y ago
  That's not really how it works. :P
musicale 6y ago
> It's not like you lose money. You simply didn't earn any off that one person It's tricky to quantify the financial harm (such as lost sales, higher prices, reduced production, cost of anti-piracy enforcement, etc.) caused by or associated with piracy, as well as the effect on the economy as a whole. Overall, it seems likely to be a small redistribution of wealth from companies to pirates, where the benefit to pirates is likely greater than the loss to companies, since each pirate copy is not necessarily a lost sale. This overall benefit (mainly accruing to pirates) is probably offset somewhat by slightly reduced sales and production as well as the cost of anti-piracy enforcement.
- account42 6y ago
  Piracy can also benefit companies by working as free advertisement for their current and future products. I also don't think the discussion should stop at what effect it has on the economy but also include the effect of piracy on culture and preservation thereof. Excessive copyright and copyright enforcement can easily do more harm to society than the people disregarding such laws.

Google234 6y ago

Unpopular Opinion: I think that if you're a store owner and you want people to go to literal prison for stealing from your store, then you're a piece of trash.. In all honesty, I wouldn't trust anyone that disagrees with this even if they told me the sky was blue. Man capitalism has made people so heartless.

musicale 6y ago
Since shoplifting isn't a felony, prison isn't usually an option. In some states petty shoplifting might even be an infraction (more like a traffic ticket or a fine for littering) rather than a misdemeanor. It certainly doesn't seem to be commensurate (or cost-effective) to send someone to jail (much less prison) for stealing $20 worth of merchandise (or passing a counterfeit $20 bill for that matter.) Not to mention that piracy (or illegal copying) isn't theft - it's copyright infringement. (Though that might actually be worse since the penalty could be $150K in statutory damages.)
jessehorne 6y ago
That's not really how it works. :P

musicale 6y ago

> It's not like you lose money. You simply didn't earn any off that one person It's tricky to quantify the financial harm (such as lost sales, higher prices, reduced production, cost of anti-piracy enforcement, etc.) caused by or associated with piracy, as well as the effect on the economy as a whole. Overall, it seems likely to be a small redistribution of wealth from companies to pirates, where the benefit to pirates is likely greater than the loss to companies, since each pirate copy is not necessarily a lost sale. This overall benefit (mainly accruing to pirates) is probably offset somewhat by slightly reduced sales and production as well as the cost of anti-piracy enforcement.

account42 6y ago
Piracy can also benefit companies by working as free advertisement for their current and future products. I also don't think the discussion should stop at what effect it has on the economy but also include the effect of piracy on culture and preservation thereof. Excessive copyright and copyright enforcement can easily do more harm to society than the people disregarding such laws.