At what point does piracy become the moral thing to do?

[Tkumpathenurple]

Recently, a lawsuit was filed due to Apple deleting a man's account with $25,000 of purchased content.

"Great," I thought, "this will hopefully set a precedent that when we buy something, we bloody well own it." As per the common understanding of the term "buy."

Well, media companies seem to be intent on working around that by way of seeing to it that owning content just isn't an option. Warner Bros are rumoured to be phasing out Blu-rays and DVD's.

And given that GTA Vice City was patched on the PS3 to remove some of its music (I've tried to find links, but I can only find some forum posts) and that The Mighty Boosh was removed from Netflix because a man was killed on the other side of the world, I don't feel at all easy about giving control of art to capricious corporations who bend to the whim of investors and small groups of noisy wastrels.

So if we're currently in a world in which corporations can vandalise or destroy our possessions, and we're sliding into a world where we can't buy versions of art that we love, at some point, is piracy our only solution?

 

[Malo]

So if we're currently in a world in which corporations can vandalise or destroy our possessions, and we're sliding into a world where we can't buy versions of art that we love, at some point, is piracy our only solution?

I think so. There's a bunch of movies and shows that I watch on streaming services that I end up downloading as well onto my NAS so that no matter what I have it to enjoy years later without having to rely on profiteering companies.

 

[tuna]

I think so. There's a bunch of movies and shows that I watch on streaming services that I end up downloading as well onto my NAS so that no matter what I have it to enjoy years later without having to rely on profiteering companies.

That is not really a moral standpoint.

 

[tuna]

I think it is entirely moral to pirate content that is not possible to access in another way. One example would be the original* versions of Star Wars 4-6 which is not available outside of piracy.

*Not really the original version, but as close as possible.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

If I bought it, then there'd be a case that could be made for me downloading a pirated version of it. I don't think subscribing to a streaming service allows me to download and keep it forever. For streaming services I might download it to view on a mobile device and then delete the download afterwards. This isn't perfect, however, as if the owner of that IP only gets revenue from the streaming service based on how often it is viewed, then they may not get any revenue from me watching the downloaded video, so I use this sparingly.

For games, I'm not typically worried about it. As, on Steam, if you legitimately buy the game (IE - not from a site known to sell stolen keys) the game can't be removed from your account even if it is removed from Steam. However, if Steam were in danger of going out of business? It'd depend on how Steam planned to deal with that situation.

Regards,
SB

 

[fehu]

One of my friends had a legally brought game on floppies, through a lot of work and compatibility mode we were able to make it start on his win7, but stopped because the content protection software was too old and relied basically on rootkiting win95/98.
No solution of course.
The game was too niche and too old to find pirated, but still, it was an original working software, with a regular license.

 

[Davros]

If I bought it, then there'd be a case that could be made for me downloading a pirated version of it.

Agreed. If publishers insist that you dont own the game you just own a lifetime license to use it then this is the price they should pay.

 

[swaaye]

Not all that many consumers are interested in physical media anymore. That's mostly why BD and DVD are going away.

Sony wants to end PS3 and Vita but I imagine not that many people care. Temporary stay on that it seems but yeah. It makes one wonder when PS4's day will come. Is Steam forever? I read that if your PS4/PS5 battery dies even the discs may not work. Heh.

My thoughts are it makes me rather uninterested in paying full price for anything. Minimize the investment.

 

[pcchen]

I don't think it's really about digital download vs discs. A DRM-less digital download such as GOG can last as long as you want. The copy of The Witcher 3 I downloaded from GOG.com is on my computer, and if I keep it backed up well I should be able to run it many years in the future if I find some vintage computer or a emulator to run it. A disc (or worse, disc based DRM) is actually not as good as it can be more difficult to find a suitable reader for the disc.

 

[swaaye]

I don't think it's really about digital download vs discs. A DRM-less digital download such as GOG can last as long as you want. The copy of The Witcher 3 I downloaded from GOG.com is on my computer, and if I keep it backed up well I should be able to run it many years in the future if I find some vintage computer or a emulator to run it. A disc (or worse, disc based DRM) is actually not as good as it can be more difficult to find a suitable reader for the disc.

That's true but most consumers don't notice/value what GOG offers. It's a Steam and console store world. I'm also not really convinced that most people worry about long-term ownership of things.

 

[orangpelupa]

Some steam games got no drm.

Btw, is Apple the only company that removes your purchased contents when you are banned?

On steam when you are banned, you still can access your purchased contents right?

 

[Malo]

I believe Google removes access to all your purchases if your account is banned. A game developer recently lost everything he owned, including the ability to finish his Stadia release of his game, when his account was banned without explanation.

 

[Davros]

Some steam games got no drm.

Do they work without steam ?

 

[orangpelupa]

Do they work without steam ?

Yes. For example steam vr. It got no drm. It runs even with steam not running in background.

 

[Davros]

So I could copy those games to a usb drive then put them on a pc that has never had steam installed on it and they would run without having to install steam ?

 

[zed]

There must be something more to that apple story
Something criminal perhaps

 

[tuna]

One of my friends had a legally brought game on floppies, through a lot of work and compatibility mode we were able to make it start on his win7, but stopped because the content protection software was too old and relied basically on rootkiting win95/98.
No solution of course.

Maybe you can try to run it in Dosbox?

 

[Davros]

Little known fact : You can install win9x in dosbox

 

[orangpelupa]

Btw this piracy ethics talks makes me think how about buying used games? The publisher and devs didn't get anything from people buying used games. Because they already bought the game used, they won't have any need to buy the same game again brand new.

But with piracy, people can choose to pirate, then if they like the game or want online features, decide to buy the brand new game to have the game (license, feature, and ownership wise)

If course there's probably also people that pirate and buy nothing. Or pirate and buy used games. In that case, no money ever touch the dev / pubs.

So I could copy those games to a usb drive then put them on a pc that has never had steam installed on it and they would run without having to install steam ?

I think so. I have not tried it yet on a different pc. But steam vr do able to run without steam running.

There's also this list https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Big_List_of_DRM-Free_Games_on_Steam

 

[fehu]

Maybe you can try to run it in Dosbox?

tried all