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
Solarion said:
I'm no angel here doubt any of us are but I will just add my own impartial opinion. Everything belongs to someone. Even a brick lying on the side of the road was at some point manufactured by machinery and materials someone paid for and then bought by another someone for building purposes. So that brick although lying on the side of the road discarded, still ultimately belongs to someone. Now we can go into why the owner tossed it away or perhaps it fell off a truck who knows.

I've lost my point, brain gone blank. LOL.

Edit: Oh right ok so. Is the thing you are downloading discarded/lost or given away?
Click to expand...
Orphaned.... the clones don't belong to anyone only the original does.
 
It is not theft. If so then they should create a system/app smart enough to deny us from downloading or copying anything of their platform.
Simple!
 
I think it is theftish.

It is not theft, but it is also not entirely not theft.

If you run into a Musica and steal a CD...


I am just joking, Musica has closed down.
 
Samayanaya said:
When someone, other than yourself, sets up a projector in a public space, playing a movie for which they do not own any rights and circumstances allow you to be there to see the movie. What would you be guilty of?
You didnt support them financially and all you gained was the enjoyment of the movie. You just sat there, watched a movie and then left...
Click to expand...
You have a strange way of watching movies.
 
Dairyfarmer said:
I feel it is my privilege, no my right, no my duty to use "unconventional means" of consuming media in order to not support the SABC TV License, if they get their way, which they will.
Click to expand...
It has nothing to do with the SABC and you know it. It's about you stealing somebody else's intellectual property. Even if you weren't in South Africa where there is SABC. .. You'd still do it because you lack morals, you feel entitled to something that someone else worked hard for... You just want free sheit
 
zulucat said:
It has nothing to do with the SABC and you know it. It's about you stealing somebody else's intellectual property. Even if you weren't in South Africa where there is SABC. .. You'd still do it because you lack morals, you feel entitled to something that someone else worked hard for... You just want free sheit
Click to expand...
Why are you accusing him of pirating SABC signals?

What self respecting pirate would sink so low?
 
Maybe people should pay for material they did not author
 
I would classify it as other. if you can make a copy of the original that should be legal, but not to make money of it or deprive someone of selling originals.
 
What is really theft? I've seen both a CD and VHS cassette of Jumanji next to one another in a Dions store many moons ago. The CD had the same price, surely it is significantly cheaper to manufacture and transport compare to the cassette? Same with ebooks, your taxes, the list goes on. And then I haven't even started with medication...
 
Considering that most media today is issued to consumers under a license, it isn't theft. Legally, it's copyright infringement and in some cases its also bypass of copy protection mechanisms.

But it isn't theft.
 
my "moral" test would be - "is the accused profiting financially"

but now, even as I type this, I am not sure 100% sure if that actually fits all scenario's.

  • I want to watch some netflix shows. If there was no bittorrent, I likely would subscribe. So does that mean that I am actually "profiting" (I am keeping money I wouldnt paid over) from using alternate means?
  • But then there are things that I will watch but would not pay for, and would be fine without

other examples are various shades of grey.
  • A student is using pirated software to learn their craft - some might say you must pay school fees, but others might say eduction must be free (what constitutes education)
  • A freelancer is using pirated software to earn money from clients - to me this is clearly theft
 
I would say its a difficult one, seeing you referring to online, the internet, one has to ask:
1-Why did the Internet came into life-?
2-How did it came about-?
3-What were the motives behind the Internet bringing it along over the globe and invite everybody, aim is 7 Billion+.
4-One has to understand the Internet Digital Concept, has many ABSTRACT layers and the way that can react with us, that was until then Analog beings, what you see is what you get, and if you are fooled, it was more basic in nature. Now its totally different, and different with exponential factors, if you are fooled now, its complicated and NOT straight forward at all.

Now I think its safe to say:
1-That in 30 years of Internet growth, security is still a huge problem and growing.
2-That all us personal info is by this time already in the hands of criminals, noot by our mistakes as individuals, but by large entities carrying our info. Example...I have one celphone I only use in connection with tax and banks, only they have from my perspective, however since then, and a certain babk if I made a dealing, I usually get soon afterwards cals which I dont answer from unknown sources etc etc.
3-I was never ever paid for my personal information given out to an entity, or by having and using a computer online.

So what I want to say is that there is an awfull lot just wrong with the whole digital etopia, and building it further from such a base, I dont think thats a good idea for a secure fulture..........So I cannot answer this question from the current digital base.
 
How do you steal something when you don’t remove it from the source?

I’m also of the opinion it can’t be wrong if it was never offered for you to rent/purchase in the first place.

If you download a show that isn’t available in SA then nobody is losing anything.

One could argue it’s a potential sale lost if it was offered locally and still pirated but even that is very far from 1:1 ratio.
 
rather ask the real questions:

is taxation theft?

is inflation (aka stealth taxation) theft?

... either of those make piracy look like child's play in terms of impact
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X