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I'm a fan of GPL, but recognize it as being in the same mindset as assured mutual nuclear destruction. In order for it to work, the people have to accept the lies and case law that is inherent in the current "intellectual property" theft from humanity. On moral and religious grounds I cannot, just like I would have to refuse if there was a law stating that people had to pay for the air they breathed.
None of us have any real say as to what happens after our death, and to desire control for over a hundred years after our demise is so incredibly selfish and egotistical that IMO it would be better classified as a crime against humanity.
Your example of the copyright of a frikkin recipe shows exactly how insane the power grab has become and how unworkable any laws enforcing copyright are. "I'm sorry, Jill. You illegally downloaded a recipe for toll house cookies that is copyrighted. Step away from the mixmaster, and we'll see you in court, never mind your hungry children looking forward to a treat." What next, proprietary flour or corn? Oh wait. Corn is ALREADY patented now. At this point, the best thing that could happen is some of these patents and copyrights be used against the holders and huge claims of damages bankrupt them. "That recipe for toll house cookies was so good that it was addictive and caused my child to have a heart attack. Releasing it to the public knowingly was a known product liability, and I want ten million dollars!" "That HFCS is a carcinogen, here's yer summons!"
I have had countless ideas for products and procedures that I have purposely not developed. I've seen and read about too many situations where the creator not only ends up without recompense but in legal trouble. I don't need that crap.
I can understand your thinking that I'm not being reasonable, and trying to convince me to be compliant and reap the "benefits" of a society built upon such theft and control of ideas and techniques, but you might as well not bother. Until ethics is properly handled by the government, corporations and heirs, intellectual "property" laws are no more moral than stomping on baby heads for a profit.
I have done it, but not for a while and I didn't do a lot of that but I don't think I was stealing because I wouldn't have paid for anything I torrented.
I would like to have that hole dug in my back yard but if I have to pay for it then I'm not interested. Since I'm not going to pay you to dig this hole under any circumstances to begin with if I have you dig the hole and then don't pay for it you haven't lost anything either.
Last edited by thecoalman; 10-27-2016 at 12:43 PM..
I would like to have that hole dug in my back yard but if I have to pay for it then I'm not interested. Since I'm not going to pay you to dig this hole under any circumstances to begin with if I have you dig the hole and then don't pay for it you haven't lost anything either.
I agree with the point thecoalman is driving at here.
I do not pirate and I feel pretty strongly that it is something that should not be done.
On another note, really?
Am I really seeing a thread asking for people to come admit they commit theft?
If you don't see anything wrong with stealing software, at least have the decency to not come and advocate it on public forums.
Especially the one who fobbed off their thieving by saying they only downloaded software they wouldn't have bought anyway. As if (1) we actually believe that and (2) that makes it any better to steal.
When Napster first arrived on the scene, that changed the game forever.
Rationalizing using torrents or not is interesting. You can say you downloaded 6-digit $ amounts of information from torrenting, and of course that takes profits away from the originators of what was downloaded. Let's focus on music. You could have downloaded thousands of albums, and at $15/album average as an example, the amount of $ not put into the economy of the business is staggering when thinking of how many others are doing so. 2,000 albums at $15 each is $30,000 not spent shopping. But then there's the flip side of downloading, which may be a poor rationalization, but I believe it's real. In general, I find albums to be a huge disappointment. You can pay $15 and only the one song that made you buy the album is the only good one. Of course this is all personal opinion, but it's almost like you can justify torrenting because you feel you've been ripped off by the industry for a crappy product.
With all of that said, I understand the legal aspect of it. It's not legal. You didn't pay for it. You were not given it as a gift from someone (legal way to get it for free). Many people though find obscure music and such they can't find anywhere else when torrenting. I wonder at the end of the day how much money an artist loses by music piracy?
I wonder at the end of the day how much money an artist loses by music piracy?
Many artists are locked into contracts and get very little royalty, keep in mind they aren't in poverty but the percentage of the profits they get is small. It's a deal with the devil. Sign the contract and we'll make you rich and famous, don't sign and we'll make someone else rich and famous. Very few have leverage in these contract negotiations. The bulk of what they make comes from concerts, t-shirts etc.
There is plenty free and low cost music available from fantastic artists but people want to listen to Bieber with the multi million dollar marketing behind him, in particular young people.
For the most part it's the record companies that are losing and determining what they are losing is very problematic. Would you have paid for that CD? While trying to justify not paying for it because you wouldn't have to begin with is poor argument it's certainly something that needs to be considered when looking at what the record companies are losing.
One thing that is clear is it's a lot. There was very good documentary on Showtime about Tower Records, in the late 90's at the pinnacle of CD sales they had annual sales in the billions. Because of the industries lack of seeing MP3 for what it was and other poor decisions they were bankrupt a few years later. I know there was plenty of music stores in my area and they practically disappeared overnight. The only one left is locally owned chain and to be quite honest I doubt they are making any money and are just kept open because the owner can.
In this day of streaming it's the artists themselves who take the hardest hit. They make very little on streaming. Definitely not enough to live on. That is why you see many artists still touring. That is the only way to make real money.
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As if (1) we actually believe that and (2) that makes it any better to steal.
