3 ms·

I've always seen it as them reclaiming the word "pirate", which has been misused as a slur for the last 300 years. Queer used to be a derogatory term too - now

by dtf 17y ago

I've always seen it as them reclaiming the word "pirate", which has been misused as a slur for the last 300 years. Queer used to be a derogatory term too - now many will proudly identify themselves as queer. My dad called me the other day to tell me he'd finally given up and downloaded a song for my mum from Limewire after becoming exasperated at trying to buy it from the various legal channels. Due to some ridiculous licensing disputes between the recording companies involved, it was completely unavailable in his country on any album or compilation. "You're a proper pirate now, dad", I said. "Yes, I suppose I am", he replied... there was more than a hint of pride in his voice at having defeated the ridiculous.

jacquesm 17y ago
You're actually nailing one of the major reasons why people start with filesharing here, they simply want some song, then can't find it anywhere. Other than from those pesky download sites... so they download their first mp3 or long-out-of-print movie. And once the skill is learned it gets a lot easier to do it a second time. Before long you realize that not only is the 'catalogue' a lot larger than in any for-pay store, the quality is usually better, there is no need to part with your personal information and so on. Convenience always was a great selling point. Maybe it would be a good thing if everybody that ever downloaded a song would voluntarily report to their local jail to be locked up for a week or so. But all at the same day, just to show how ridiculous this is.
- cabalamat 17y ago
  > Before long you realize that not only is the 'catalogue' a lot larger than in any for-pay store, the quality is usually better, there is no need to part with your personal information and so on. Convenience always was a great selling point. And there's no shitty DRM. > Maybe it would be a good thing if everybody that ever downloaded a song would voluntarily report to their local jail to be locked up for a week or so. But all at the same day, just to show how ridiculous this is. LOL. We may try that as a stunt.

by dtf 17y ago

jacquesm 17y ago

You're actually nailing one of the major reasons why people start with filesharing here, they simply want some song, then can't find it anywhere. Other than from those pesky download sites... so they download their first mp3 or long-out-of-print movie. And once the skill is learned it gets a lot easier to do it a second time. Before long you realize that not only is the 'catalogue' a lot larger than in any for-pay store, the quality is usually better, there is no need to part with your personal information and so on. Convenience always was a great selling point. Maybe it would be a good thing if everybody that ever downloaded a song would voluntarily report to their local jail to be locked up for a week or so. But all at the same day, just to show how ridiculous this is.

cabalamat 17y ago
> Before long you realize that not only is the 'catalogue' a lot larger than in any for-pay store, the quality is usually better, there is no need to part with your personal information and so on. Convenience always was a great selling point. And there's no shitty DRM. > Maybe it would be a good thing if everybody that ever downloaded a song would voluntarily report to their local jail to be locked up for a week or so. But all at the same day, just to show how ridiculous this is. LOL. We may try that as a stunt.