No, it’s not like stealing a physical item from a store.

“stealing” a digital copy of a movie, tv show or a game is like if the item you’re stealing from a store is infinitely copyable. Like the replicator from star trek…or that one episode of Sabrina the teenage witch with that box that can make a perfect copy of everything you put inside of it.

Of course I personally would never pirate anything, no matter how much streaming services increase their prices or how much they crack down on VPN usage to get around geo-restrictions, PIRACY IS BAD AND ONLY BAD PEOPLE DO IT.

I’ve never pirated anything in my whole life!

There are people who understand what I’m saying…but apparently most people don’t get it.

Of course that means I still would never pirate anything. That would be horrible to “steal” a copy of a movie or a TV show

    • The Rizzler@feddit.orgOP
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      5 months ago

      And of course, they did go out of business. That’s why they need welfare from the government now.

      You should never pirate anything, that would be bad.

      There are people who understand what I’m saying, and then there’s the idiots that downvoted me on some of the comments I posted

  • noorbeast@lemmy.zip
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    6 months ago

    I would like to suggest an alternate perspective, that digital media be beholden to protocols not platforms.

    In other words lets focus on the drivers of competition…most evidence suggests that piracy goes down in response to easily accessible and affordable market conditions.

    • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
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      6 months ago

      most evidence suggests that piracy goes down in response to easily accessible and affordable market conditions.

      The assholes know this too. We’re about due for another round of deshitifcation, just long enough to restore complacency.

  • Hegar@fedia.io
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    6 months ago

    Stealing a physical item from a giant corporate store is also always morally acceptable.

    Having power neurologically suppresses empathy. Therefor resources controlled by the powerful will on average be used more harmfully. Taking resources from the powerful reduces total harm done.

    You will use a loaf of bread less harmfully than Walmart will use the profit from it.

    • The Rizzler@feddit.orgOP
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      6 months ago

      Stealing a physical item from a giant corporate store is also always morally acceptable.

      not really, it makes the store lock everything up behind plexiglass creating more friction for paying customers too.

      Of course, theft wouldn’t happen nearly as much if no one was desperate the survive, but even then there’d still be entitled assholes that want even more.

      • Hegar@fedia.io
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        5 months ago

        not really, it makes the store lock everything up behind plexiglass creating more friction for paying customers too.

        That’s not really harm in the way that hunger or poverty or lobbying against workers protections is harm. That’s more like a temporary inconvenience that doesn’t stop anyone getting what they need, right?

  • Cyrus Draegur@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    perhaps the only ethical consumption under capitalism is that which denies capitalists their profit.

      • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        If the movie is good, you should support it by making a donation to the strike fund of the unions that represent the artists that actually create the movies. You can support artists without supporting the amoral companies that produce these works.

      • comfy@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        I mean…if the movie is good you should support it

        What is ‘it’? The movie is a published work, it can’t be financially supported. Who is being supported with the money you pay?

        Vote with your wallet.

        Unfortunately, consumer boycott (and conversely, support) usually isn’t an effective strategy at this scale you’re talking about. Unless you and all your friends are voting with a few thousand dollars, it’s hardly going to make a dent in the numbers.

    • CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world
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      5 months ago

      So long as people are starving under the system while others have yachts, the system is unethical, and thus following its rules – insofar as they perpetuate this inequity – is unethical.

  • Imprint9816@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 months ago

    Pirates constantly trying to “morally” justify their action is by far the worst part of all pirate forums.

    Its embarrassing how many pirates need the validation of strangers on the internet.

    Isn’t there a philosophy forum that these people could spam instead?

    • thisnameisnottolong@aussie.zone
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      5 months ago

      Pirates commenters constantly trying to “morally” justify their action opinion is by far the worst part of all pirate forums.

      Its embarrassing how many pirates commenters need the validation of strangers on the internet.

      Isn’t there a philosophy forum that these people could spam instead?

      Ftfy

    • 𝓔𝓶𝓶𝓲𝓮@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      It’s good because otherwise we would have only shady characters and kids and that would be even more annoying to read. We have this illusion of doing something right, part of some greater philosophical stance and thanks to it you can read the comments without digging through slurs. The piracy forums are usually very hard on the eyes.

      • Imprint9816@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        I mean people could just stick to actually discussing piracy instead of how people feel about piracy.

        The community is a massive echo chamber. Its not like there is a vocal minority seriously arguing piracy is immoral or unethical. So its just copy pasta of a million other posts.

        • 𝓔𝓶𝓶𝓲𝓮@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          As I said I am glad they do that instead of some other things that often fly in the space where we don’t care about the morals at all. Those places are tiresome and draining much more than some random philosophy post. Good, if they think about those things that means they are human. Someone who no longer cares about anything what they do and its effects and consequences is truly lost and more like an animal than a human.

  • ctkatz@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    my view on it lies in two seperate buckets:

    1. if the thing being pirated is vastly overpriced for its function i don’t see it as immoral
    2. if the thing being pirated is no longer available or was never made available for private ownership, ie only able to be streamed and only available on said service so long as the host streamer still has rights to do so, it isn’t immoral.

    and just to be clear, i don’t see piracy as inherently evil or anticapitalistic. there have been several books and apps that i pirated that i liked and converted to an actual buyer to get more books in the series or get updates to the program.

  • Asparagus0098@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    Personally I don’t really care too much about whether it’s moral or not. I pirate when I feel like it and don’t when I don’t feel like it. I also pay for some things that I pirated before and enjoyed as long as it isn’t too expensive.

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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    6 months ago

    The number of examples of media becoming unreachable to paying consumers keeps growing.

    Warner Brothers (Max) is the greatest example of this. Years of content from Cartoon Network just disappeared, leaving the consumer no legal avenue to enjoy some of their favorite shows.

    I do not advocate for piracy. I advocate for archiving.

    • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
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      6 months ago

      I do not advocate for piracy. I advocate for archiving.

      Exactly. And if the assholes make it illegal for librarians, well then yo ho ho.

  • antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 months ago

    The only person stealing is the one who circumvents the DRM and shares it. It’s not stealing to see or hear something.

  • Xed@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Piracy is great because it helps you not support corporation’s greed. They can’t profit off of you 😄

  • Zier@fedia.io
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    6 months ago

    When you download music online for free and prevent the company from making a profit off of a creative work by the artist, that they prevented from making a profit & royalties, is that wrong? Doubtful. You can always send the artist money directly if you want to support them.

    • The Rizzler@feddit.orgOP
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      6 months ago

      the DMCA doesn’t protect the artists or any of the singers, it protects the shitty record labels and the money that the executives at those companies get