Aberzanzorax
Hero
I'm not saying "you should go ahead and pirate."
I'm wondering what the reasons are that people do not download illegal material. I can think of five. I also think that most of these are not controlled by the owner of the IP. (Please share more if you've got them). Also, I want to point out that I'm mainly discussing the "download" aspect of this, and not so much the upload or creation of illegal files.
1. Ethics. They simply won't pirate, or they'll only pirate within some sort of "moral code", e.g. as "browsers," (i.e. "sample" a book that they can't otherwise find in order to make a determination on buying it--like looking through it in a bookstore or an Amazon preview--then delete it.) This is intrinsic to the person (potential customer) and cannot really be affected by the company.
2. Quality. Simply, that they want the book in print, and piracy is all digital. (That or the digital copies are poor.) This is a quality issue and is constant for every publisher contending with piracy. This is not the case for company created PDFs, though. If this is the only reason someone doesn't pirate, they'll happily pirate a "pdf for sale."
3. Fear. Fear of getting caught and somehow punished. This is one that the IP holder can enforce, but is like, as someone has put, the little dutch boy putting his finger in a dike.
4. Availability. There simply are not pirated copies available for download. Conversely, this can be a reason people do pirate; there simply are not legal copies available (out of print, not available in their country, they want a PDF and there are only print books).
5. Goodwill. This is the big one for many people who are willing to pirate in some cases, but not in others. I have friends who will pirate from companies or artists they don't respect, but not from those they do respect. I also have friends that will pirate from those they respect, and then LATER BUY THE SAME SONG with actual money. In some ways this is similar to buying new out of print books at a discount versus buying the books new from the publisher. It is goodwill that matters most in actually wanting to give your money to someone. I DON'T want certain companies to get my money. Specifically I want them to NOT get my money. Alternatively, I want other companies to get my money. It is my goodwill that drives me to purchase brand new books directly from a company (sans even Amazon discount), while "badwill" that makes me choose to only buy books used or secondhand from another.
EDIT (more brought up in the thread):
6. It is illegal. This is a shade different from both #1 and #3. Illegality is its own animal, but can be highly related or conflated with both ethics and punishment. There are immoral laws (e.g. old laws allowing slavery) and there are legal things you can do that are immoral (e.g. cheat on your girlfriend). Illegality and morality can inform one another, though (e.g. imagine a country in which downloaded copyrighted material was legal...many might still feel it was immoral. However, more people might feel it was moral since it was not illegal).
7. Hipocracy/identification with the producer of the product. You yourself create something that you would not want pirated, and so you have an investment against piracy. This can include other D&D pdfs, but it can be as widespread as art, music, or even free things like fansites that you wouldn't want to be "ripped off."
Edit 2:
8. Convenience. There is a reasonable, safe, and legal alternative that is simply more convenient than pirating. Even if none of the above mattered to you, it is just easier not to pirate.
9. Pennies to the Dollar. You are doing well financially relative to the item you could pirate, but don't. If you couldn't afford it, you might think about pirating it, but you have the luxury of having enough money to spend on entertainment items like music, art, books etc.
So what do you all think? Agree, disagree, or have other reasons not to illegally download?
I'm wondering what the reasons are that people do not download illegal material. I can think of five. I also think that most of these are not controlled by the owner of the IP. (Please share more if you've got them). Also, I want to point out that I'm mainly discussing the "download" aspect of this, and not so much the upload or creation of illegal files.
1. Ethics. They simply won't pirate, or they'll only pirate within some sort of "moral code", e.g. as "browsers," (i.e. "sample" a book that they can't otherwise find in order to make a determination on buying it--like looking through it in a bookstore or an Amazon preview--then delete it.) This is intrinsic to the person (potential customer) and cannot really be affected by the company.
2. Quality. Simply, that they want the book in print, and piracy is all digital. (That or the digital copies are poor.) This is a quality issue and is constant for every publisher contending with piracy. This is not the case for company created PDFs, though. If this is the only reason someone doesn't pirate, they'll happily pirate a "pdf for sale."
3. Fear. Fear of getting caught and somehow punished. This is one that the IP holder can enforce, but is like, as someone has put, the little dutch boy putting his finger in a dike.
4. Availability. There simply are not pirated copies available for download. Conversely, this can be a reason people do pirate; there simply are not legal copies available (out of print, not available in their country, they want a PDF and there are only print books).
5. Goodwill. This is the big one for many people who are willing to pirate in some cases, but not in others. I have friends who will pirate from companies or artists they don't respect, but not from those they do respect. I also have friends that will pirate from those they respect, and then LATER BUY THE SAME SONG with actual money. In some ways this is similar to buying new out of print books at a discount versus buying the books new from the publisher. It is goodwill that matters most in actually wanting to give your money to someone. I DON'T want certain companies to get my money. Specifically I want them to NOT get my money. Alternatively, I want other companies to get my money. It is my goodwill that drives me to purchase brand new books directly from a company (sans even Amazon discount), while "badwill" that makes me choose to only buy books used or secondhand from another.
EDIT (more brought up in the thread):
6. It is illegal. This is a shade different from both #1 and #3. Illegality is its own animal, but can be highly related or conflated with both ethics and punishment. There are immoral laws (e.g. old laws allowing slavery) and there are legal things you can do that are immoral (e.g. cheat on your girlfriend). Illegality and morality can inform one another, though (e.g. imagine a country in which downloaded copyrighted material was legal...many might still feel it was immoral. However, more people might feel it was moral since it was not illegal).
7. Hipocracy/identification with the producer of the product. You yourself create something that you would not want pirated, and so you have an investment against piracy. This can include other D&D pdfs, but it can be as widespread as art, music, or even free things like fansites that you wouldn't want to be "ripped off."
Edit 2:
8. Convenience. There is a reasonable, safe, and legal alternative that is simply more convenient than pirating. Even if none of the above mattered to you, it is just easier not to pirate.
9. Pennies to the Dollar. You are doing well financially relative to the item you could pirate, but don't. If you couldn't afford it, you might think about pirating it, but you have the luxury of having enough money to spend on entertainment items like music, art, books etc.
So what do you all think? Agree, disagree, or have other reasons not to illegally download?
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