Why DON'T you pirate?

Ethics, mainly. You made allowances for "browsers", which I definitely do on occasion (though it's been a long time). I pay for services rendered, though. This is both out of respect to the people who put in the effort and to maintain the availability of my hobby.

Because I don't own a boat.

Although I wouldn't be likely to engage in piracy even if I had a boat. Much too dangerous these days.

I'm in a bit of a weird position. I'll admit, I download PDFs illegally, but for one of three reasons:

• Skimming it to see if I want to purchase the book. The closest game store with any semblance of a large supply of books is about 40mins away, so I don't have a lot of opportunities to go there and browse with my schedule.
• I can't get a copy of it immediately, but I plan on buying it ASAP. For example, I couldn't get a physical copy of PHB2 until about a week after it came out (B&N didn't have a copy, the RPG shop that's actually near me closes at 6pm which makes it almost impossible for me to stop by there until the weekends... etc etc).
• I own the book, but want a backup copy of it on my laptop.

As a rule, if I use any part of the book for gaming, I go out and buy it... and at my FLGS, even, despite the fact that I could get it all significantly cheaper on Amazon. (Note: things I look up on the compendium or throw together in the character builder are an exception, because... I pay for DDI for a reason )

So, why don't I just wantonly pirate every book I come across? Two reasons.

1. I prefer print over on-screen PDFs, by a LOT.
2. I want to support the company that makes the products I like.
3. See #2
4. See #2

Pretty much #1 & 5, or as I see it "Because my parents raised me right."

If I want something and can't afford it, I don't get it. *shrug* Simple as that.

Years ago (well, probably a decade ago), I did play a little morally loose with music. I never got into Napster or any of that, but at work people would have shared folders, and I had probably 3 dozen songs I copied from others. However, I would say the majority of those I would have never listened to if they hadn't been shared. Secondly, after I discovered the iTunes music store, not only did I replace all of the songs I copied from co-workers with legit copies, but my music buying has gone up from a CD a year to probably a couple hundred dollars worth a year. I buy far more music now than I ever have. Because iTunes gives me exactly what I want - cheap, fast access to a huge catalog of individual songs. And as for replacing my pirated songs with legit ones - a buck a song is a bargain weighed against my conscience.

With RPG books, prior to 3.0, TSR had those great CD compilations at a more than reasonable price, so my needs were met. When 3.0 came out, RPGNow became my iTunes. It has an incredible selection at fair prices, and I bought FAR more PDF products than print ones (and I bought A LOT of print products through 3.x.). It is cheap, fast access to the books I want - plus, just like my iTunes collection, it's easy to have at work and home (including PDFs being easer to use without my boss noticing).

Even more, RPGNow helps me try new products I never even would have looked at in the store, and has helped me make far more use of all my products than the physical books collecting dust on my shelves.

So, without the fast, easy access to WotC PDFs, I'm not going to start pirating them - again my parents raised me right. But I will certainly be a less satisfied customer and give more money to the companies that exhibit better customer service (especially given the fact that the number of cool products I want is greater than the money I have to spend on them, so it's easy to make purchases based on my opinion of business decisions).

One reason not to pirate is because of the high quality of the editing of the books... always having the first edition of any book you purchase be mostly without errors, eliminating the need for a pdf with all the errata so that you actually have a working copy of the rules.


Oh...wait a minute....

I didn't Pirate because there were excellent legal copies of the .pdf's I could purchase thereby getting what I wanted and supporting my hobby. But now... Arrrrrr matey!!

Ethics and it's illegal.

I firmly believe content owners have the right to determine how their stuff is distributed, and that strong IP protection is absolutely necessary in the long run in an information-based economy.

I don't pirate for the same reasons I don't stab kittens in the eye or give octogenarians atomic wedgies.

Yeah, largely for the reasons listed. Ethics/legality/respect for the work of others.

However availability is another issue. If its OOP and not being made available/for sale...

Because:

- I create products and wouldn't like to see them pirated.

- It's theft.

- I think people should be able to support themselves and their families by working on the thing they're best at, and should be paid for their work.

If something is good enough to be pirated, it's good enough to be bought.