5 ms·

Happily, file sharing enthusiasts are a critical piece of media preservation. Piracy is a violent crime, file sharing is not comparable to it in any way.

nine_k 4y ago
To say the truth, files to be shared often need to be produced first: books scanned and OCRed, DVDs grabbed and repackaged, games actually cracked, etc. There is a scene beyond just people running Bittorrent nodes.
- pizzaknife 4y ago
  If it is as truly violent as the "piracy" label suggests, then is this not "war on drugs" in another vestige?
  - nine_k 4y ago
    I can agree that "piracy" is an unnecessarily violent label (no swords, no drowned ships), but it sort of became the standard word in media. AFAICT the actual scene prefers terns like "release group", because it's indeed what they do: release bits from the confines of DRM or dead trees.
unixgoddess 4y ago
[flagged]
- rockemsockem 4y ago
  Quite the opposite actually. Studies have found that those who pirate content tend to purchase significantly more content than the average person.
  - unixgoddess 4y ago
    this is obviously bull though.. how do you even make a study like that? you'd need to associate each illegal downloader to his/her real identity and then to each of their legal purchases... that's ridiculous, and even if academics had the means to do it, it would be illegal. piracy itself is illegal in most countries, so if you don't report them you are literally an accomplice.
  - unixgoddess 4y ago
    Also, I can understand the downvotes, but why the flagging? You can call them thieves, but not parasites? I feel that HN has become quite censorship-heavy lately. To elaborate on that, people often claim it's not theft because the owner keeps the goods. That's why it's more appropriate to consider it parasitism (you are eating at someone else's table without paying).
tivert 4y ago
> Happily, file sharing enthusiasts are a critical piece of media preservation. > Piracy is a violent crime, file sharing is not comparable to it in any way. Sorry, the meaning of "pirate" you dislike is already firmly established, and you're frankly not going to be able to change that. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate > 2: to take or appropriate by piracy: such as > a: to reproduce without authorization especially in infringement of copyright
- matheusmoreira 4y ago
  Even if it's fruitless in the end, we're still gonna shame the use of the word "piracy" on sight. It's quite simply offensive to compare the copying of bits to high seas piracy which includes murder and rape. Of course the copyright monopolists had to spin up such propaganda: copyright infringement just has no weight to it.
  - tivert 4y ago
    > Even if it's fruitless in the end, we're still gonna shame the use of the word "piracy" on sight. Who's this "we"? > It's quite simply offensive to compare the copying of bits to high seas piracy which includes murder and rape. You are talking that way, way too seriously and interpreting it in weird way in order to take maximum offense. And my point is it isn't a comparison: "pirate" has an established meaning that is literally just your "file sharing enthusiasts." Also, actual high-seas piracy has diminished to the point where "pirates" is mainly understood as file-sharing pirates or as goofy cartoon characters (e.g. "talk like a pirate day" and "Pirates of the Caribbean"). You have do to a lot of deliberate work to strain to take offense at the association. > Of course the copyright monopolists had to spin up such propaganda: copyright infringement just has no weight to it. It should be noted your alternative "file sharing enthusiasts" is at least as propagandistic, just from the opposite party. Not that I think copyright piracy is that big if a deal, it's just that computer geeks' overwrought stridency on the issue is obnoxious and obscures more than it informs.
    - matheusmoreira 4y ago
guy98238710 4y ago
I like to tell people I am a pirate though. I think it sounds cool.
musicale 4y ago
Cambridge dictionary [1] has this definition: > piracy noun [ U ] UK /ˈpaɪərəsi/ US > IT, LAW > the act of illegally copying computer programs, recordings, films, etc. to sell them at much cheaper prices What's interesting is that this definition includes selling. So by this definition at least, regular file sharing of copyrighted media, even illegal or infringing distribution, would not qualify as piracy, since no sale is involved. [1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/piracy https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/piracy
- TylerE 4y ago
  If you pay attention, the sites that get taken down are often laden with ads, so rather lose the ability to claim some sort of non-commercial exemption.

nine_k 4y ago

To say the truth, files to be shared often need to be produced first: books scanned and OCRed, DVDs grabbed and repackaged, games actually cracked, etc. There is a scene beyond just people running Bittorrent nodes.

pizzaknife 4y ago
If it is as truly violent as the "piracy" label suggests, then is this not "war on drugs" in another vestige?
- nine_k 4y ago
  I can agree that "piracy" is an unnecessarily violent label (no swords, no drowned ships), but it sort of became the standard word in media. AFAICT the actual scene prefers terns like "release group", because it's indeed what they do: release bits from the confines of DRM or dead trees.

unixgoddess 4y ago

[flagged]

rockemsockem 4y ago
Quite the opposite actually. Studies have found that those who pirate content tend to purchase significantly more content than the average person.
- unixgoddess 4y ago
  this is obviously bull though.. how do you even make a study like that? you'd need to associate each illegal downloader to his/her real identity and then to each of their legal purchases... that's ridiculous, and even if academics had the means to do it, it would be illegal. piracy itself is illegal in most countries, so if you don't report them you are literally an accomplice.
- unixgoddess 4y ago
  Also, I can understand the downvotes, but why the flagging? You can call them thieves, but not parasites? I feel that HN has become quite censorship-heavy lately. To elaborate on that, people often claim it's not theft because the owner keeps the goods. That's why it's more appropriate to consider it parasitism (you are eating at someone else's table without paying).

tivert 4y ago

> Happily, file sharing enthusiasts are a critical piece of media preservation. > Piracy is a violent crime, file sharing is not comparable to it in any way. Sorry, the meaning of "pirate" you dislike is already firmly established, and you're frankly not going to be able to change that. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pirate > 2: to take or appropriate by piracy: such as > a: to reproduce without authorization especially in infringement of copyright

matheusmoreira 4y ago
Even if it's fruitless in the end, we're still gonna shame the use of the word "piracy" on sight. It's quite simply offensive to compare the copying of bits to high seas piracy which includes murder and rape. Of course the copyright monopolists had to spin up such propaganda: copyright infringement just has no weight to it.
- tivert 4y ago
  > Even if it's fruitless in the end, we're still gonna shame the use of the word "piracy" on sight. Who's this "we"? > It's quite simply offensive to compare the copying of bits to high seas piracy which includes murder and rape. You are talking that way, way too seriously and interpreting it in weird way in order to take maximum offense. And my point is it isn't a comparison: "pirate" has an established meaning that is literally just your "file sharing enthusiasts." Also, actual high-seas piracy has diminished to the point where "pirates" is mainly understood as file-sharing pirates or as goofy cartoon characters (e.g. "talk like a pirate day" and "Pirates of the Caribbean"). You have do to a lot of deliberate work to strain to take offense at the association. > Of course the copyright monopolists had to spin up such propaganda: copyright infringement just has no weight to it. It should be noted your alternative "file sharing enthusiasts" is at least as propagandistic, just from the opposite party. Not that I think copyright piracy is that big if a deal, it's just that computer geeks' overwrought stridency on the issue is obnoxious and obscures more than it informs.
  - matheusmoreira 4y ago

guy98238710 4y ago

I like to tell people I am a pirate though. I think it sounds cool.

musicale 4y ago

Cambridge dictionary [1] has this definition: > piracy noun [ U ] UK /ˈpaɪərəsi/ US > IT, LAW > the act of illegally copying computer programs, recordings, films, etc. to sell them at much cheaper prices What's interesting is that this definition includes selling. So by this definition at least, regular file sharing of copyrighted media, even illegal or infringing distribution, would not qualify as piracy, since no sale is involved. [1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/piracy https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/piracy

TylerE 4y ago
If you pay attention, the sites that get taken down are often laden with ads, so rather lose the ability to claim some sort of non-commercial exemption.