Piracy - Yay or Nay?

[germuhknee]

Pro? Con? Thoughts?

Hypothetically speaking, of course ...

music: am against it, mainly because i tend to buy a lot of indy stuff, and the kids need the beer money
film: against it on aesthetic grounds -- i don't have a widescreen TV, and i enjoy going out to see a film
tv shows: i "would be" in favour of this ... say you live in a country where your favourite shows are not on, and/or not on in english, and/or not going to be shown for months if not years ...
games: if the game is no longer commercially available, why not, for nostalgia's sake?
other?

[AlanRay]

music: i download and if i like it i buy it, if i don't like it i delete it.
film: i'm all for movie downloading, but if i really enjoy a movie i'll buy the dvd for the special features and just to own it.
tv shows: i download tv shows quite often, only when i can't watch them when they're actually on, i don't have a dvr
games: i'll download if i don't know if i'll like it or not, but for things that i know i'll enjoy i usually just buy them.

[spooky]

music: i will download it, if i like it and its a major label, i will try to paypal the band some money directly, since they get shafted usualy on record sales( some as bad as only .25 per record), or i will buy the album. if its a smaller indie label i will buy the album if its available, paypal directly if not, and if for some reason im too poor, then i will at least push it on everyone i know or i feel guilty

movies: i will download it if im thinking it might suck and have the time to mess with it. i have like 300 dvds, i do comics for a living, so im heavy into sequential art, so i love the commentaries and will buy the dvds if its good or seems to have anything even remotely interesting to offer. truthfully though, i havent downloaded a movie in years.

tv: im completely indifferent. i pay for cable. so i feel like ive already paid for it. im a browncoat if you guys know about all that, and ive paid for 3 copies of Firefly, mainly to spread the word about the show, so i guess i have the watch out for the little guy attitude.

i guess overall, if they deserve my money, i will give it to em, if not, screw em, they should have tried harder.

chad!

[AlanRay]

Originally Posted by spooky

tv: im completely indifferent. i pay for cable. so i feel like ive already paid for it. im a browncoat if you guys know about all that, and ive paid for 3 copies of Firefly, mainly to spread the word about the show, so i guess i have the watch out for the little guy attitude.

that's cool, it's nice to see another joss fan that listens to KATG. i'm a scooby myself, i never really watched firefly but i'm probably going to buy the dvds and go see serenity.

[tranzorz]

Music: I'll napster a bunch of mp3s, honestly because my cd collection got big and cumbersome. I agree with paying the indie guys their fair shake. I may be one of those guys someday, so I'm paying my karma now.

Movies: you know, with Walmart charging a whopping $5/disc for older titles, I can't see stealing them. & Netflix is a great deal, too

TV: I try to stay as far away from TV as possible...except, of course, for Arrested Development(Season 2 Discs will be purchased on October 11th, 2005 here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...d&n=507846

Games: I'd have to say ditto on games. I'm a PS2 gamer, so most of my games are purchased when they're 20-25 bucks. Except the Silent Hill series...I get those the second they're released.

[tw2113]

I'm totally for downloading music, but like previous posts have said, if I like it, I'll certainly buy the cds.
I think movie downloading is wholely justified by the fact that like 80% of the movies put out anymore are rebaked pieces of dog shit. Its like they go into their backyard and scoop up a pile and put it in the oven for a couple years. Fucking hollywood.
No tv shows are really worth downloading in my opinion.

[BlueCC]

Music: Music is not something I think is worth spending money. Without the internet, it is likely that I would not listen to or care about music.

Movies: I will download movies that are hard-to-find or out-of-print. For example, I have downloaded films that were not available in the states at the time or were temporarily OOP (Battle Royale, Audition, Cannibal Holocaust).

TV: I am currently downloading the first season of Babylon 5. There is no way I am going to spend $100 on a series I have never seen. If I like it, then I will buy the DVDs.

Games: Like movies and tv, I prefer to have a legitimate hard copy.

Software: Sotware is way too expensive for me. I will download things like Photoshop or 3ds Max. If I planned on making money by using the software, then I would gladly pay.

[teerts]

YAAAARRRRR!


I think you should pay for it if you plan to use it to make money.

I do not download movies. Takes too long. About as long as it takes to get it from Netflix.
Except for pr0n. I wish Netflix had a porn section, but then i might not want to touch
the disc to put it in the dvd player. But then again, I guess that doesnt matter much.
The previous netflixer of 6ft under season 3 disc 2 could have jacked off, pooped, and
taken out the trash and then shipped the disc back without washing his/her hands and
I probably wouldnt knwo the difference.

I think downloading television shows that are not yet released on dvd is legal. kinda.

I think abandonware (things out of print, or otherwise generally forgotten) are a grey area, not necessarily bad.

Being able to try before you buy (without having to pay someone like blockbuster to try) is a good thing.

[nerdupyo]

I download music all the time and a lot of it is indie too. I don't think it's such a bad thing because if the bands that I like come to NYC I'm going to go see them. I'm probably going to buy something from their merch table where the money goes straight to them and not to the record company.
Same goes for movies. If I download a movie it's because I don't care enough about seeing it in the theater. When Sin City came out for example I could have downloaded it I'm sure but I knew it would be a better experience to see it in theaters. The Brothers Grimm though.. I downloaded and I'm glad I didn't pay to see it.
On a whole I think that piracy isn't taking as much money away from the industries as they want us to believe. No matter what they do they can't stop it anyway, someone will always find a way around it.

[tw2113]

to me its like sampling or buying a single(which they don't physically release anymore it seems) and getting a taste for it.