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It doesn't matter how you rationalise it. Someone created content with the intention of it being consumed for a fee. You downloaded it, likely from someone who

It doesn't matter how you rationalise it. Someone created content with the intention of it being consumed for a fee. You downloaded it, likely from someone who illegally copied/reproduced it. Maybe I didn't "steal", but I contributed to criminal activity. Sure, copyright laws can seem absurd, but if you disagree with the laws, consider the ethics. How would you feel if you have a business, I steal from you, and then go give random people your content? This especially when it starts to drive into your revenues. "Only digital copy" is disingenuous. If the cost of producing the digital copy is say $40mm (an amount article says some Netflix movies can cost). They're making copies from a digital copy, and their business is to sell access to them. If their model is "we'll replicate this copy 500 million times, and charge users $0.10 a view", every 10 copies viewed elsewhere is $1 lost. Should a service raise the fee to say $0.12 to better cover costs? Ultimately, theft is often subsidised by paying customers. I'm also guilty of this. I download torrents where: * I can't buy something because it's not available due to region restrictions, and I can't buy it via VPN (looking at Disney+) * I can't buy it anywhere altogether. Where I used to download maybe 50 torrents a year a decade ago, I probably do it <5 times a year now. It's stealing, or consuming stolen content. The pricing strategies of big corp is a separate accessibility issue.

lostlogin 5y ago
I agree with everything you say here, and torrent a bit more than you and get things via newsnet a lot. I maintain a large media server. The end result of my pirating is a media service that is easier to use, is higher quality and requires less effort than a streaming service (though initial costs and setup time were high). I also pay for 3 streaming services that go unused, and this covers about half or maybe 3/4 of what I watch. Streaming is in a dangerous place when piracy works better, looks better and is more convenient.
pineconewarrior 5y ago
It really doesn't matter how you rationalize it either, within the frame of capital everything is immoral
dml2135 5y ago
> How would you feel if you have a business, I steal from you, and then go give random people your content? This especially when it starts to drive into your revenues. I would consider that if I am selling a product that has absolutely no scarcity, such as digital files, I have a few approaches. - Introduce artificial scarcity with something like DRM - Create a business model focused on the service of providing the product, rather than the product itself I would not try to accuse my potential consumers of a crime in order to fix the flaws in my business model.
- pineconewarrior 5y ago
  The other option, which obviously doesn't work for mega-corporate media, is independent, direct support (patreon, etc). Most of my favorite modern content is created in this way, and is entirely free to download and distribute - contribution is entirely optional. problem is that greedy media moguls want to get paid for a piece of content forever, instead of just raising enough money to cover the labor and advertising, give stakeholders some profit, and move on, so they cannot exist this way. That is their problem though :)

lostlogin 5y ago

I agree with everything you say here, and torrent a bit more than you and get things via newsnet a lot. I maintain a large media server. The end result of my pirating is a media service that is easier to use, is higher quality and requires less effort than a streaming service (though initial costs and setup time were high). I also pay for 3 streaming services that go unused, and this covers about half or maybe 3/4 of what I watch. Streaming is in a dangerous place when piracy works better, looks better and is more convenient.

pineconewarrior 5y ago

It really doesn't matter how you rationalize it either, within the frame of capital everything is immoral

dml2135 5y ago

> How would you feel if you have a business, I steal from you, and then go give random people your content? This especially when it starts to drive into your revenues. I would consider that if I am selling a product that has absolutely no scarcity, such as digital files, I have a few approaches. - Introduce artificial scarcity with something like DRM - Create a business model focused on the service of providing the product, rather than the product itself I would not try to accuse my potential consumers of a crime in order to fix the flaws in my business model.

pineconewarrior 5y ago
The other option, which obviously doesn't work for mega-corporate media, is independent, direct support (patreon, etc). Most of my favorite modern content is created in this way, and is entirely free to download and distribute - contribution is entirely optional. problem is that greedy media moguls want to get paid for a piece of content forever, instead of just raising enough money to cover the labor and advertising, give stakeholders some profit, and move on, so they cannot exist this way. That is their problem though :)