42 replies to this topic

[*D*]

I was reading a thread on a forum and a guy was trying to make a case for why Piracy and stealing aren't the same things. I found it to be very interesting, the back and forth, point/counterpoint etc. Of course by the law it is stealing, but I'll bring up some points that were brought up: 1.Lets say PPV for instance. If you wouldn't pay for it anyway, are the company really losing money since you never would've thrown down the 50 bucks in the first place? 2.When people buy PPV, like a fight or what have you, a lot of the time, i know we do anyway, we have 6-8 people over and we all chip in.. so if someone is hosting a stream online for 3 dollars.... is that really stealing? Or a variation of what me and my friends do? I don't necessarily agree with it, but it does change my perspective a little. For instance, I rarely buy a CD without hearing it now. I usually DL it, if i like it, i buy it, if i don't , then i hit delete.. so is it possible, a lot of people are like me and album sells are down cause people now get a free preview of the entire thing and don't impulse buy shit anymore? Compared to stealing a car, they basically said it isn't the same because if u steal a car, u are taking something from someone and they can no longer sell it cause its physically gone.. or u are stopping someone else from buying it, whereas with a CD or PPV, u are watching/listening, but the person u copy it from still has it. whats your opinion?

[LISA]

I think Pirates wear eye patches and thieves wear baggy jeans

[TAP]

Compared to stealing a car, they basically said it isn't the same because if u steal a car, u are taking something from someone and they can no longer sell it cause its physically gone.. or u are stopping someone else from buying it, whereas with a CD or PPV, u are watching/listening, but the person u copy it from still has it.

whats your opinion?

Anyone who thinks that is a valid argument is retarded.

[LISA]

HA! hahahahhahhahahhahahha....I like my answer better although the sarcasm did not bleed through...

[TAP]

HA! hahahahhahhahahhahahha....I like my answer better although the sarcasm did not bleed through...

I laughed. Reminds me of a joke I read recently -

"Piracy is killing the music industry. You try playing the guitar with a hook."

[LISA]

LOL...*phew, thought I lost my touch

[Timothy]

Currently watching downloaded Pirate porn. U got to see what they are doing with this peg leg.

[freedom78]

It's certainly LEGALLY stealing, so let's not worry with that question.

Ethically...

...well, I know that for me, personally (and I may be the outlier, here), the more I've downloaded the more I've bought. In other words, since I began downloading I've paid for WAY more music than I did when I was NOT downloading.

In addition, products like music, movies, and video games are among the few things in this country that you can't return. I remember back in the day when a friend hated Metallica's "Load" album (i.e. the one where they were accused of selling out). He tried to take it back. They wouldn't let him. And this was LONG before mp3 and so forth. Every other product I can think of you get a chance to either return it or try it out (or both!). Cars, electronics, and even food can be returned or tried out. But not music, movies, or games. Sure you might hear a single on the radio, and some bands go out of their way to stream online. But record companies don't want too much of that...after all, why buy what you can stream for free, 24/7? And radio stations don't exactly dig too deeply into the albums. Movies I have less of a beef with, because of theatres and a big rental industry. Same with games (at least with rentals). But music doesn't have a major rental market. Nor does it have a major "try it out before buying" option, save the streaming that is usually limited. So, since I cannot make thoughtful purchases of products I have given serious consideration, I have no problem with downloading music. Most of what I've downloaded falls into one of three categories: (a) bootlegs or other live recordings that aren't commercially available, ( albums I listen to once or twice and then delete because I don't like them, and © albums I desire/plan to purchase.

Further, because I do NOT listen to a great deal of modern, popular music, my pre-purchase listening options are further limited. Try being a metal fan. YOu're limited to what bands are cool enough to stream online. If they don't, you'll never hear any of their music before purchasing...unless you download in order to see if you like it.

Currently watching downloaded Pirate porn. U got to see what they are doing with this peg leg.

This one?

[cousin it]

Compared to stealing a car, they basically said it isn't the same because if u steal a car, u are taking something from someone and they can no longer sell it cause its physically gone.. or u are stopping someone else from buying it, whereas with a CD or PPV, u are watching/listening, but the person u copy it from still has it.

whats your opinion?

Anyone who thinks that is a valid argument is retarded.

Let us travel back a couple of decades, shall we?

If you loan you friend a tape to copy, is that stealing?

[Timothy]

Downloading has probable done more good then bad for bands. I have descovered more band from checking them out by downloading.

[*D*]

I am telling u, Downloading hasn't killed the music industry, ITunes has fucking killed it and why nobody can realize that, i will never know. Why the fuck would u buy a 15 dollar CD when u like 2 songs and can buy those for 2.50? People still SELL music. its just now, their single sells 2 million copies instead of the album. its pretty simple actually. stop selling fucking singles. Eminem moved 740k copies first week? WHY? cause he had 6 singles in the top 100 people figured it was cheaper just buying the album same with why Nickelback and Taylor Swift have still sold rather well.. cause they have enough hit singles that makes buying the album come out to about the same price. most bands who have 1 hit are fucked cause take Flo Rida.. his single sold 4 million album barely went platinum there ya go!

[gunnerdownunder]

It works both ways. Before the days of downloading, a band/artist toured to support an album. Concerts were often at a reasonable price. Nowadays, an album (which doesn't make as much as it once did) is released to support a tour, where the money is. These days I'm finding the cost of a show can get very expensive. But, admittedly, unless it's something like GN'R, I'm downloading the album for free so..

[gunnerdownunder]

An addition to what I mentioned above and I think D touched on this, it's not even an album that's supporting a tour these days, it's 1, 2 or 3 hit/catchy songs. A lot of albums I look at these days, I can't help but notice that the 'hit' singles are 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the tracklisting. I've picked up a few albums where the hit/catchy songs are there, and the rest of the album is pure bollocks. So it's no wonder people are downloading (legally and illegally) those 2/3 songs and not bothering with the rest. I miss the days when an artist strived to produce an album of 12 quality songs, where it would have been difficult to pick which ones are used for singles.

[TAP]

Justifiable reasons for stealing apples from a supermarket: 1. If I like them I'll buy more apples. 2. I'll discover a new kind of apple and then buy that. 3. The apple industry has ruined apples by selling them individually instead of in bags. 4. I would buy a whole bag of apples but only three are good so I'll steal those three. 5. I'll share them with my friends and they'll buy apples. 6. I'm supporting apple delivery drivers. 7. I used to pick apples from my neighbour's tree without asking.

[TAP]

You're all a bunch of liars, you download music because it's free.