Why DON'T you pirate?

fba827 · Apr 8, 2009

To me ...

Stealing (which is what pirating is by definition) for a nonessential entertainment item just seems sad to me. (Food/medicine is another topic with various circumstances, but those are necessities, not toys)

If I want something, I believe I should buy it.

If I want something but can't afford it, I save and budget for it.

If I don't think it's worth the price, I either don't get it or borrow it from a friend to see if I am misinformed of its potential value to me and then reevaluate whether or not I think its worth the price.

Note: I'm not currently employed and I budget every penny in order to take care of a household as well as taking care of some personal health issues. So this isn't talk from someone who has the money to spare.

Besides, people worked hard for that stuff and they have their own families to take care of. If I think the book has enough value for me to want it, I see no reason not to reward them for their efforts in creating it.

I could ramble on, but much of what I would say has already been said more succinctly by others.

Beginning of the End · Apr 8, 2009

Enlightened Self-Interest.

Paying for the stuff I like means getting more of the stuff I like.

pawsplay · Apr 8, 2009

I don't think sharing PDFs is immoral. I don't pirate for the simple reason that I think people should receive proper compensation for their work, and under the current economic incentives, that means sending the writer and publisher money, at least nominally for products I like, approve of, and wish to see more of.

I'm also passionate about throwing money into the kitty for live musicians, because I like live music.

Orius · Apr 8, 2009

For me? Largely ethical.

For one it's illegal. And I'm lawful enough to feel that since the laws against piracy aren't meant as an oppressive measure in general, breaking those laws are unethical.

Secondly, piracy and theft are ethically equivalent in my view. You're not paying for something someone produced to make money.

There is also the reasons that websites and the like that offer pirated goods aren't exaclty clean of malware, spyware, viruses and other garbage, but the ethical reasons are stronger.

wedgeski · Apr 8, 2009

I do not steal. Therefore I do not download file-shared *anything*. It was quite amusing a couple of years ago to find that my brother-in-law, who was staying with us for Christmas, actually hid his PSP, which had a couple of cracked games on, and didn't play while I was in the room. We had a good laugh about that afterwards.

Naturally I reported him to the appropriate authorities. I hear he's being treated well.

Starfox · Apr 8, 2009

thadrine said:
That said, I do download a lot of PDFs, simply because there are no gaming stores near me. I have to look through a book before I will buy, because there is a lot of crap out there. If I like and plan on using it, I will buy it.

This. I also love the feel of a physical book. Producing only a digital version makes me much more likely to not pay for it.

S'mon · Apr 8, 2009

1. I don't like having to register on most Torrent sites.

2. I would rather pay the publishers for their efforts, if their product is available at a reasonable price. Incentive-Reward theory - "Encourage Progress of Science & the Useful Arts" etc etc. This is particularly the case for in-print works.

3. I have enough money that I can afford reasonable costs for legal download.

4. Downloading tons of stuff I'll never use is pointless.

I did once download a presumably unauthorised copy of a splatbook in order to check on an ability that a player who owned the book wanted for his PC.

I also downloaded a presumably unauthorised copy of an old long-OOP module which I had previously bought a hardcopy of on Ebay, as the module hardcopy came missing its dungeon maps, and without the maps I couldn't run it!

S'mon · Apr 8, 2009

Bishop Odo said:
Secondly, considering the cost of quality printing, good paper and ink usage, it’s really is not that economical to print PDF books, when you can buy most things on EBay for about the same cost? There are a few exceptions, rare or hard to find items, but they are rare.

This is a good point. Often buying a hardcopy via Ebay is cheaper than printing out a copy!

Jeff Wilder · Apr 8, 2009

(1) I believe creators should maintain control over their creations, including earning money for them (if they choose).

(2) Despite my love and understanding of technology, I still like physical objects. I want to have the CD liner notes, the DVD case, the new-book smell, the dog-eared paperback in my back pocket. I even have all of my CD jewel-cases in storage, "just in case." (Though I'm nearing the mindset at which I can part with them.)

That said -- confession time -- I don't consider "media shifting" to be piracy. I am quite willing to pay a reasonable price for added value in a digital copy of something -- bookmarking in an digital book, for instance -- or for the labor and overhead involved in digitizing content and making it available.

My personal limit is about 20 percent of what I paid for the physical copy. (So I'd pay as high as $4 for the PDF of a $20 book.) If the cost is higher than that, or if a digital copy is simply not for sale, I've got no moral or ethical qualms about acquiring one somehow.

(I want to stress that I'm talking about digital copies of media I actually legally own. I would never grab a PDF of a book I didn't own, without paying for it.)

GMforPowergamers · Apr 8, 2009

first I want to point out that last time I got into this I got (what I feel) was attacked for my opionon...so I will quote others who say what I feel better then I do...

Morrus said:
the obvious "it's illegal" reason -

CharlesRyan said:
But the bottom line is ethics. I'm not willing to sell off my honor for the price of an RPG book.

Heck, if I had the opportunity to drive off in someone else's brand-new Lambourgini, with every reason to believe I'd never be caught, I wouldn't do it. $150K is not enough money to buy my honesty, my self-worth, my integrity. A $30 RPG certainly isn't.

SteveC said:
I don't pirate because I get a lot of enjoyment out of gaming, and I want to encourage people to continue making products for it.

Beyond that, I believe that gaming is made up of good people who I want to help out where I can...they're living a dream of actually writing for a living, and I want to help that any way I can.

You can debate all of the other issues (in my opinion) but when it comes right down to it, I think keeping money from folks, many of whom I interact with on Enworld, would make me a jerk. I think there are enough jerks in the world so that we don't need n+1.

Nivenus said:
Because it's wrong and it cheats the creator. That's all I need to know.

the end result in my opionon is it is Wrong...

Why DON'T you pirate?

fba827

Adventurer

Beginning of the End

Banned

pawsplay

Hero

Orius

Legend

wedgeski

Adventurer

Starfox

Hero

S'mon

Legend

S'mon

Legend

Jeff Wilder

First Post

GMforPowergamers

Legend

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