Is online piracy theft?

Is online piracy theft?

  • Yes

    Votes: 65 23.9%

  • No

    Votes: 168 61.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 39 14.3%
  • Total voters
    272
So if I torrent a new movie because I'm unemployed and cannot afford to watch a movie in the cinema, I will be jailed, while the real criminals roam the streets unchecked. Cool law gubbermint.
 
If I pay for showmax/dstv/netflix but I still download. Is that piracy or a copyright infringement?

On my phone app, there is an option to download for offline use but I cant seem to find the option on the web UI

I tend to watch digital content away from home when uncapped internet access is unavailable. So I download it, watch it and delete it. When I'm at home Ill stream it.
 
Ray-Borg said:
So if I torrent a new movie because I'm unemployed and cannot afford to watch a movie in the cinema, I will be jailed, while the real criminals roam the streets unchecked. Cool law gubbermint.
Click to expand...
Some of the real criminals don't have a PC or TV, so they will take yours in order to download and watch the new release.
 
rambo919 said:
The consumption of the material is not theft..... the refusal to compensate the creators if you have the ability to though is theft.
Click to expand...
A poor person without the ability to pay walks into Checkers and start consuming their products. Perfectly fine.
 
My highly qualified legal friend tells me it is not illegal to make a copy for your own use.
 
I am almost 99% certain, that those who are in the opinion that it is not piracy would start multiple threads on Mybroadband about them being a victim when they are on the other ‘commercial’ side.
 
I refuse to pay MC a cent ever again. We had US Netflix and a VPN for some time. Salary cuts and children's education made our situation a lot worse than it was, so got rid of Netflix and the VPN and sailing the high seas again.
 
Theft requires depriving someone of property. Copyright theft means actually appropriating someone's copyright not simply making a copy of a copyrighted product. Record labels and film studios have been stealing people's copyrights for decades. Even in cases where they haven't taken the copyright they've regularly stolen the actual income of the people who produced the material. There are plenty of stories of record labels simply pocketing royalties hoping the musicians in question wouldn't notice.

Piracy is the wrong term too though. It can hardly be considered in any way equivalent to boarding ships and stealing their cargo.

pinball wizard said:
Speaking of morality, what's your thoughts on using a VPN to access geographically restricted content?
Click to expand...
How is that different to importing a product from another country? Am I morally wrong when I import something a manufacturer has chosen not to distribute in the country in which I live? What about if I bypass the official importer because they charge too much?
 
Just pay your TV licence.

Lots of stuff to view on SABC :

7de Laan
Generations
etc etc.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
I am almost 99% certain, that those who are in the opinion that it is not piracy would start multiple threads on Mybroadband about them being a victim when they are on the other ‘commercial’ side.
Click to expand...
The term for that is being a vested interest. And frankly if I am a millionaire writer, musician or whatever and I'm whining about lost income due to some people copying instead of paying I absolutely should be told to f**k off and stop complaining.

It's particularly laughable when record labels pretend to be concerned about musicians when those same labels have since the beginning stolen from musicians, and I mean literal stealing, at every opportunity. The film industry had to be beaten into line otherwise they'd still be screwing everyone over.
 
rambo919 said:
I was not aware that downloading something decreases stock somewhere.....
Click to expand...
I'm just going on your definition. You should then expand it to specify consumption of material that reduces the material when used.
 
noxibox said:
The term for that is being a vested interest. And frankly if I am a millionaire writer, musician or whatever and I'm whining about lost income due to some people copying instead of paying I absolutely should be told to f**k off and stop complaining.

It's particularly laughable when record labels pretend to be concerned about musicians when those same labels have since the beginning stolen from musicians, and I mean literal stealing, at every opportunity. The film industry had to be beaten into line otherwise they'd still be screwing everyone over.
Click to expand...

Vested interest in what?

You are in the view that there must be thresholds on income on which a generated surplus must be shared.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
I am almost 99% certain, that those who are in the opinion that it is not piracy would start multiple threads on Mybroadband about them being a victim when they are on the other ‘commercial’ side.
Click to expand...
If you produce a product that no one is willing to pay for..... then that is your fault.
 
rietrot said:
I'm just going on your definition. You should then expand it to specify consumption of material that reduces the material when used.
Click to expand...
Not if the consumption is abstract. You cannot read a phyisical book and make it disappear as you read.
 
People need to stop pretending there is equivalence between ethereal things like films, music, writing and actual physical goods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X