Poll: Thoughts on internet piracy?

Internet piracy is okay?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 177 35.3%

  • No.

    Votes: 83 16.6%

  • It depends.

    Votes: 241 48.1%
  • Total voters
    501
As for films, I tend to pirate them quite a lot, as I like to download my films to be able to watch offline (while traveling somewhere, commute, etc.), so streaming services eat up just too much data from my mobile plan, and even then, most of them don't have the films I want to watch. As a result, I usually just look for those pretty decent (given the file size) YIFY rips (or any other smaller alternative), and just throw them all on a USB stick and go. If it is a film I thoroughly enjoyed however, I will usually seek out a way to "pay them back" if you will, which is just basically buying a physical form.

For games, I don't tend to pirate them that much. That said, look at last years releases, they were all a complete buggy un-optimised mess, which sometimes drives me to pirate them to make sure they run properly on my system, and if they do, I'll buy it at a later date.
 
Most stolen torrents aren't lost sales by a huge margin and they are great adverts for the product imho internet piracy is an actual good thing for rights holders.
 
As long as piracy is easier and more convenient than the paid alternative, it will win. Slowly companies are realising what people want (all the content, any time, any device) and eventually we'll get there. But until then piracy will continue to be rife in the industries that are behind the times (most notably films & tv now). Spotify & Steam have done a lot to lower piracy I bet.
 
If it wasn't for piracy i wouldn't have spent hundreds if not thousands of pounds on DVD and Blu-rays

Case in point

I pirated BSG back in 2004-2009. I ended up buying the steel Blu-ray boxset for over £100 on release because i loved the show so much, and blind buy The Plan and Blood & Chrome.
 
Trifid said:
What are your thoughts on Libraries?
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I think they are great - essential, even. Other than in a superficial context, I don't think you can compare them to piracy though as libraries buy the books in the first place (or the intellectual rights holder agrees to such usage) and they oblige the borrower to return them. I can't remember if my books are set up for e-lending but I have no problem with that and, like I've already said, I've given away about 10,000 digital copies.
 
I don't pirate any-more, but it's more due to laziness & that I'm more patient/willing to wait for things to be released on Amazon to buy digitally.

There are a few things I can only obtain illegally (such as new episodes of series aired in the US with a long delay in the UK) which is the only thing that temps me to go back, but again my days of trawling for reliable downloads are gone.

I don't think it's theft, neither do I believe it's particularly morally wrong (compared to a huge number of other activities people engage in which are objectively much worse).

The financial aspect is two sided, a number of years ago the TV series I downloaded a few episodes to trial them promoted me to purchase entire box sets. Then there are the TV series I downloaded in which there was absolutely no chance I would have ever paid for (simply wasn't good enough to justify spending money on, but good enough to watch in the background).

Overall, most of my favourite bands & TV series I've spent a considerable amount of money on over the years were discovered by downloading on-line. So while on the surface it's easy for a copyright owner to declare that they have 'lost 5,000 sales' in reality it could be the case that hardly any of them would have paid for it & for some of those 5,000 lost sales a number could have then gone onto purchase legitimate copies.
 
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spoffle said:
I really find it strange that people seemingly feel some NEED to constantly refer to piracy as theft or stealing. What is wrong with calling it piracy or copyright infringement?

On a subconscious level, do you feel that piracy, or copyright infringement aren't emotionally charged enough to describe what is happening?
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Regardless of what people would like to deem it, whether it be copyright infringement/piracy, or just plain stealing, it shouldn't be done, if there is not intention to actually buy it afterwards. If your trying something, then delete it afterwards then that is different, as it still isn't being used.

But on the other hand, I know people who; for example download new games from a torrent to see if they like them or not, if they don't they don't like it they won't buy it and delete it. Whereas if they do like it, then they will buy it.

I think it is a very clouded area to discuss, because everyone seems to have different view upon it.

I know some few certain people who seem to think that piracy is the normal 'in' thing, and pretty much pirate everything from games to music/movies.
 
I haven't pirated a game in years. I still have friends who are all over it. Games aren't that expensive, even new PC games can be found on key sites for really cheap or the humble bundle for a load of fun games at cheap prices. Its so much faster yo download a game through steam than the peer to peer sites. Also there is no fiddling with files to bypass the checks.

As for TV though. I can understand it. There really needs a change in that. I have a prime subscription, but with netflix blinkbox and loads of others, you have to have 10 different sub's to get everything you want. Which is understandable since they splits the rights, but its a pain in the ass.

I tried to legitimately watch a 4od programme the other day and it said to disable adblock. So I thought I'd just do an incognito tab, nope. Wasn't allowed. So had to disable a few extensions. Then the video played fine. But every 10 minutes, 2 minutes of adverts played. But it kept stuttering every 2 seconds. So it took like 15 minutes to get through the adverts. I wish I had just watched a dodgy version.

Its so bloody annoying. I know they get their venenue from adverts, but it takes the **** sometimes.
 
I no longer pirate software of any kind and I purchase (or stream) all of my music now.

TV/Movies however are fair game. I watch what I can on Netflix and catchup, the rest I'll happily download. I'd pay £60/month for an 'all you can eat' style TV/movie service in a heartbeat if it had access to everything.
 
The plus side of piracy for me is I don't need a TV and then get sucked into watching rubbish just to pass the time.
iPlayer for documentaries and downloads for walking dead, game of thrones. More time for other stuff.
If watching those two cost a few quid then I'd go for it, but I don't want a TV bundle deal and I don't want a Bluray player and TV taking up space.

Games like WoT have the right approach, provide enough gameplay to keep you interested and cover the costs by offering paid for upgrades.
You could do it with something like Age of empires, buy a two tribe game for a few quid and then buy DLC or new tribes for a few more quid. If it was worth playing then you'd cover the cost of selling it at full RRP.
Some people spend hundreds on WoT, if I like a game I'm happy to pay for new content, I just don't want to fork out £30 in one go on an unknown.
 
Yes, because when i die it will all be worthless.

My hard-drives its all stored on will be thrown in the skip. Companies will not support the media as its "outdated" and trying to get it switched over to a family member will be nigh on impossible.

Try getting access to a online account when that person is dead. It is a nightmare.
 
Nevakonaza said:
HUGE problem i have with Netflix,It takes them way way too long to get the latest films and especially US TV series.."Sons of anarchy" would be a good example,that was always one whole season behind...WHY!

Same with there been a lot of films that were not on there..WHY!

I ended up just downloading the latest series,even though i was paying for Netflix which i shouldn't have to do!
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Sounds like you're expecting too much for the price you're paying. Netflix has never really been about having the latest and greatest, and if it was you'd be paying more than the £7 or £8 a month it costs. If you want TV series as soon as they're available in the UK, you need Sky.

I haven't pirated a game in a long, long time and I've never pirated console games. Music is the same, most of the artists and producers I enjoy aren't big names with huge record deals so I know my money is making a difference for them and keeps them going.

TV series is a tough one, there are some US shows (particularly comedies) that simply don't make it to the UK ever. As for movies, I don't watch many but I'll usually download something I really want to see and buy it at a later date on Blu-ray if I liked it enough to watch again. The cost of new release DVDs and Blu-rays (prices that are mirrored on download/stream services) is absurd for 90-120 minutes of entertainment though so I'm unlikely to ever buy it on release. I should probably look more into renting from said online services (e.g. Sky) as an alternative.
 
I have no want for non-digital media. I don't want a shelf full of boxes.


Steam turned me from someone who pirated games to someone who buys them.

It is a service which makes it convenient, and gives me EXACTLY the same quality of product that I would get by buying it physically, and I can re-acquire my purchases any number of times, on any number of devices. And it mostly comes out at the same time across the world - although there are still some regional releases.


When a service comes out that allows this for other media (TV, movies, music) - at the same quality as the physical - this means lossless compression for music, the same content as was on a Blu-Ray for videos, and made available simultaneously across the world - then I will begin using this.
 
I hear all the time look at my £1500 pc i built, but no way am i paying for windows i shall pirate it and pirate all my games then moan when they get a Trojan or get key logged, all for being a clown and a skinflint.
 
When people purchase games and then get the keys revoked or when the game doesn't work with Windows 10 because of some archaic DRM I see no problem in it. There are excuses, and damn good ones. There have been a lot of pirate companies who have actually fixed issues in games because the games companies couldn't be bothered.





M.
 
m4cc45 said:
There are excuses, and damn good ones. There have been a lot of pirate companies who have actually fixed issues in games because the games companies couldn't be bothered.
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Please provide example and evidence to back them up. :)

I expect many examples since you're claiming this is a good excuse.
 
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