Do You Get Annoyed With Pirates?

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Obviously this is really aimed at those who don't pirate material but do you get annoyed with people who do?

If so, why?

No Illegal Software/Copyrighted Discussion.

Discussions involving warez, cracks, security circumvention, using torrents for downloading copyrighted or illegal material is strictly prohibited. This includes music files or other unauthorized software. Asking for help in doing so will cause warns or suspensions of accounts.

The following punishments may be applied to your account following infractions:

• Posting a link to pirated software/film/tv/music. = SNIP POST + WARNING LEVEL RAISE
  
• Suggesting (overtly endorsing) that somebody pirate material. = SNIP POST + WARNING LEVEL RAISE
  
• Requesting assistance in pirating material. = SNIP POST + WARNING LEVEL RAISE
  
• Posting screenshots that show obviously pirated material (e.g. someone's uTorrent download screen) = SNIP POST + PM and/or ZERO LEVEL WARN
  
• Openly discussing pirated material (e.g. z0mg - new episode of Lost was amazing!! BitTorrent FTW!) = SNIP POST + PM and/or ZERO LEVEL WARN
  

[ozgeek]

Only those profit from pirated materials.

[Mando]

way i see it is, if someone has invested time and money creating something and this thing has a monetary value, I feel pirating it is robbing that creator of reward for his/her hard work. The usual Oh but im taking it from faceless corporations means diddly do dah. Or if i like the thing ive stolen , ill buy it.....if not ill delete the pirated material is nonsense.

Its theft of revenue plain and simple, no justification for taking something you havnt paid for.

[Japlabot]

Those who profit from pirated material - Annoying

Those who are compulsive downloaders who will pirate as much as they can without a second thought and no concern to even obtain it legally no matter how cheap/easy it is - Annoying

Those who do the above but try to justify it with common excuses but would still do it even if their excuses didn't apply - Annoying

Those who would genuinely attempt to obtain it legally but because the business models of legal channels are broken are pushed into piracy because they face no other option to get the content they are looking for - Not annoying

[Detection]

No, I don't think piracy is the huge problem it has been advertised to be, the majority of people who pirate would never have bought it anyway.

No Im not getting into a right / wrong debate, and no you can't compare it to stealing a car, and yes if I could download a car I would

[Azies]

Are we even allowed to talk about piracy? Those rules are pretty draconic. lol

Anyway, nope I don't get annoyed with pirates, because I simply do not care, I've got better things to worry about in my own life.

No, I don't think piracy is the huge problem it has been advertised to be, the majority of people who pirate would never have bought it anyway.

No Im not getting into a right / wrong debate, and no you can't compare it to stealing a car, and yes if I could download a car I would

Untrue, there are a few people who pirated, and then bought the game right afterwards the first chance they got.

[Detection]

Are we even allowed to talk about piracy? Those rules are pretty draconic. lol

Anyway, nope I don't get annoyed with pirates, because I simply do not care, I've got better things to worry about in my own life.

Untrue, there are a few people who pirated, and then bought the game right afterwards the first chance they got.

Note I said "The majority" :pinch:

[zeta_immersion]

only those for profit ...

I have nothing against it ... however, every timeI hear someone telling me that I could DL and sell for profit just want to punch them and I school them (yeah ironic I know) ... that IF and ONLY IF, they buy the original and rip it and crack it, using their own tools not the ones from the net, I would understand if they would sell it otherwise I told them straight up they are stupid .... (actually, I told this to my boss and he didn't like it much but I think he understood as I think he might have done it)

[Amarok]

Not really. They're just a convenient excuse for companies to justify their actions in nickel and diming the consumers to death and failing to meet sales expectations. I actually had a friend that worked for one of the major video game developers (Haven't talked to him in ages but he's recently opened his own company.) and he was going over the piracy numbers and complaining about piracy. I asked him how the company figures how many people pirate the games. I kid you not his reply to me was "Well we had a pretty good idea of how many copies we were going to sell, we subtracted the number we actually sold from that and we figure that's more or less how many copies were pirated." - Ever since then I've had much less faith in the piracy estimates I've seen.

I don't need to pirate things, I have a good job and make good money and I get awesome discounts on Adobe products, but I do understand pirate logic. Believe it or not quite a large number of pirates wouldn't buy the game/app/etc if pirating it wasn't an option and so no profit is lost and the item itself isn't lost either and just as many copies can be sold to just as many consumers. Unlike shoplifting ... Where say a store gets 50 copies of something, but 5 of those get stolen, then the store can only sell 45 and someone is out the price of 5 copies. It's really hard to get even a decent idea of how much actual damage piracy does.

So no, pirates don't bother me. :)

[Detection]

Not really. They're just a convenient excuse for companies to justify their actions in nickel and diming the consumers to death and failing to meet sales expectations. I actually had a friend that worked for one of the major video game developers (Haven't talked to him in ages but he's recently opened his own company.) and he was going over the piracy numbers and complaining about piracy. I asked him how the company figures how many people pirate the games. I kid you not his reply to me was "Well we had a pretty good idea of how many copies we were going to sell, we subtracted the number we actually sold from that and we figure that's more or less how many copies were pirated." - Ever since then I've had much less faith in the piracy estimates I've seen.

I don't need to pirate things, I have a good job and make good money and I get awesome discounts on Adobe products, but I do understand pirate logic. Believe it or not quite a large number of pirates wouldn't buy the game/app/etc if pirating it wasn't an option and so no profit is lost and the item itself isn't lost either and just as many copies can be sold to just as many consumers. Unlike shoplifting ... Where say a store gets 50 copies of something, but 5 of those get stolen, then the store can only sell 45 and someone is out the price of 5 copies. It's really hard to get even a decent idea of how much actual damage piracy does.

So no, pirates don't bother me. :)

+1 ^^ This

Piracy costs companies near nothing, it is its own little world that with or without it would make no difference to any company

[djdanster]

I only disagree with pirating if somebody pirates for profit and not supporting indie developers.

[pack34]

Not really. They're just a convenient excuse for companies to justify their actions in nickel and diming the consumers to death and failing to meet sales expectations. I actually had a friend that worked for one of the major video game developers (Haven't talked to him in ages but he's recently opened his own company.) and he was going over the piracy numbers and complaining about piracy. I asked him how the company figures how many people pirate the games. I kid you not his reply to me was "Well we had a pretty good idea of how many copies we were going to sell, we subtracted the number we actually sold from that and we figure that's more or less how many copies were pirated." - Ever since then I've had much less faith in the piracy estimates I've seen.

I don't need to pirate things, I have a good job and make good money and I get awesome discounts on Adobe products, but I do understand pirate logic. Believe it or not quite a large number of pirates wouldn't buy the game/app/etc if pirating it wasn't an option and so no profit is lost and the item itself isn't lost either and just as many copies can be sold to just as many consumers. Unlike shoplifting ... Where say a store gets 50 copies of something, but 5 of those get stolen, then the store can only sell 45 and someone is out the price of 5 copies. It's really hard to get even a decent idea of how much actual damage piracy does.

So no, pirates don't bother me. :)

Not even the ones that sell pirated content or counterfeit merchandise?

[firey]

I know I might be a little biased, but no piracy doesn't bother me. In some cases piracy fits what is needed (for example downloading a TV Show that you missed, and aren't sure when it will air again), or downloading a seasons of a show because you have looked all over and can't find the physical copy.

I am also not bothered by people who sell pirated material, I don't do that but I know a few people that do, and they make decent money doing it.

[Detection]

I know I might be a little biased, but no piracy doesn't bother me. In some cases piracy fits what is needed (for example downloading a TV Show that you missed, and aren't sure when it will air again), or downloading a seasons of a show because you have looked all over and can't find the physical copy.

I am also not bothered by people who sell pirated material, I don't do that but I know a few people that do, and they make decent money doing it.

And the people who buy pirate software were never going to buy it from the company anyway, like I say, it is its own world separated from the genuine one.

Problem only occurs when apparently genuine retailers sell pirated software to unknowing customers, other than that it is no problem

[firey]

And the people who buy pirate software were never going to buy it from the company anyway, like I say, it is its own world separated from the genuine one.

Problem only occurs when apparently genuine retailers sell pirated software to unknowing customers, other than that it is no problem

I've never paid for pirated material, unless you count paying for usenet to download linux ISO's faster, but I think it comes down to would you rather pay 5$ for something, of 105$ for something.

[simplezz]

You wouldn't steal a car..

You wouldn't steal a handbag from an old lady...

You wouldn't shoot a policeman.. Then steal his helmet.

You wouldn't then go to the toilet in it and send it to his Widow.. Then steal it back again..

Sorry, couldn't resist.

The hysteria over file-sharing is quite ridiculous really. Let's break down the arguments from the pro-ip/copyright gang:

1. A shared file == A lost sale. A fallacy long disproven by many studies.

2. It costs jobs. See 1. Additionally, it's the copyright cartels who are causing job losses (if any) due to their unwillingness to provide what the consumer wants.

File-sharing is a superior method of obtaining content. As long as that's the case, it will never end. As for the copyright cartels, well, they're mostly irrelevant now anyway, this is just the last gasp of a dying tyrant if you will - Sic Semper Tyrannis!

[Azusa]

I will always try to buy but some things tent to stop me like region blocking, limited runs, and above all else availability.

[thealexweb]

One thing that is defo true about piracy, one illegal download does not equal a lost sale. Anyone who tries to justify otherwise is barmy, most of the people who torrent would never have bought the product if pirating it wasn't an option.

[simplezz]

I will always try to buy but some things tent to stop me like region blocking, limited runs, and above all else availability.

That's a big part of the problem. The copyright cartels are their own worst enemy. They reward their customers who buy their stuff with DRM, adverts, unskipable crap (DVD's mostly). I'll never buy anything from them ever again as long as they treat us with contempt.

[giantpotato]

I get annoyed simply because of all the bull**** excuses they come up with. They just can't seem to admit they just want stuff for free.

[simplezz]

I get annoyed simply because of all the bull**** excuses they come up with. They just can't seem to admit they just want stuff for free.

That's the thing though, it's not just about getting something for free, the biggest reasons are convenience and availability. That's why iTunes was such a success. Although it's still far too expensive, and has limited availability.

And remember, just because something's available for free, doesn't mean it would have been bought otherwise - The download = lost sale fallacy.

[Detection]

I get annoyed simply because of all the bull**** excuses they come up with. They just can't seem to admit they just want stuff for free.

What's wrong with free if it costs no-one anything ?

Anti-pirates are just on their high horse because to them "no-one should get things for free that they work hard for and pay taxes on and bla bla bla bullsh*t"

Don't like it? Don't read about it

[WisdomX]

For the most part, no.. It only annoys me when I can imagine that the money lost through piracy exceeds the costs of production and reasonible profits. But in my mind I believe that is rare unless the material is really deserving of failure. "Waterworld", and "Battlefield Earth" for example were train wrecks that should have punished the producers, writers, actors, musicians, theaters, and anyone else who wanted to feel justified in the garbage those movies were. I think most of the fuss about piracy is probably very rich people complaining that the profits aren't even higher. Think about this. The rules keep changing in congress. They change constantly through a system of congressional bribes in the millions of dollars we call lobbying, by the people sent from the production companies called lobbyists. The monies used by lobbyists COME FROM POOLED PROFITS. If piracy was really hurting reasonible profits, the rules wouldn't keep changing, because the already very rich complainers wouldn't be able to afford it.

[Xoligy]

I was going to post "No they dont bother me im on land they are on sea!" lol

But to answer the thread, i only disapprove against those that download to re-sell.

The thing is we all see these programs at work, university or on the tv or internet and most of them have a hefty price tag now if you need these programs for work and can afford them then yes sure buy it, but most people are getting them mostly as a hobbie to learn and get use to them soon as they get bored they will try something else and the 30day trials the companies offer just isn't long enough if your working during the day meaning you only get weekends and some nights to learn them and do as much as you can. Im not saying its the companies fault for limiting there programs, i just think they could be limited ina better way by "time application has been open" rather than 30days and thats it. Yes some do allow you to uninstall and re-install but some i have used do not 30days than they want you to pay admuncher is one, and yes i pay for that because it is worth the money.

Another good cause that someone said is that with legit software and movies you get alot of bs adverts, trailers, *ywns* fbi warning then with the pirate copy you put in the dvd and aaaah relaxation!

As for the losing money rubbish, that is just that rubbish we all still goto the movies and buy box sets if we want them, and programs are still brought buy the same companies over and over again they just spread there costing because the program makers bring out a new one every year and licensing aint cheap!

All i have to say but i say its more companies fault with high prices and bringing out new software so often people result to copied versions oh and the trailers and adverts on movies.

[Detection]

You wouldn't steal a car - It's not stealing it's copying.

If I had a Car Burner in my house I would copy the neighbours car, and guess what, it wouldn't cost the neighbour anything.