There's a great many people who have illegally downloaded from those notorious file sharing sites all the kids love. Whether it's the latest blockbuster, a niche film or something that hasn't even yet hit theaters, movies are being downloaded through these unorthodox means with increasing frequency. And whatever their rationale, these modern day pirates are costing the industry millions of dollars each year. Call it a problem, call it a plauge, it's all the same to me. It's stealing. And it's wrong.I'm curious, though, about the thought process behind these actions. Knowing that the fine readers of Think Lynsen would never commit or condone any illegal acts, I'm curious what you might have heard from other people about why they pirate movies. I'm not so much looking for the "because I'll never get caught" answer as I'm seeking to resolve the "it's mine because" riddle.
Can anyone help me crack this nut?
4 comments:
Yaarrrr... I mean, what an interesting question. Not that I'd ever pirate a movie (shiver me timbers!), but some of the rational one might have for doing so is somewhat strait forward.
For example, one could download movies that simply have not come out yet in the US, that one REALLY wants to see, and does not know if it ever will be out in the US (for example, the Solomon Kane film...). In this sort of scenario, it's a lack of patience, and telling oneself that "if it's any good, I'll see it as soon as it comes out in the US!"
Then there's the "I kinda liked it, but not enough to pay $x for it."
Then there's "damn it, I know I own this movie, it's in a box somewhere. It will literally be faster and easier to download it and watch it then to hunt through the boxes in storage for it."
There's the "well, it's not in theaters, and it's not on disk yet, I'd like to watch it nowish..." reason. I've totally never used that bit of justification.
Then there's the "I just don't care if I'm robbing from a studio where the executives and actors are making obscene amounts of money, and the crew's already been paid." This is a pretty bold faced justification, but I've heard it used.
Then there's the "data should be free!" and "they just don't have a right to that, it's just 1's and 0's after all." Which I find to be obnoxious (and if I did pirate, might even put me off doing so as I wouldn't want to be clumped into that bunch).
Finally, it's easy to justify by simply telling yourself that since you're not taking something physical from another person, how is it theft? When you add in that one's wants almost always outstrip one's means, and how just plain old easy it is to borrow that movie in a digital format from one of your faceless virtual "neighbors." And then keep it if you like it without making that other person upset. Score!
Or, one can think of it as a gift from the bounty of the internet. And I think all our parents taught us to be gracious about receiving gifts that are offered to us. So with that in mind, it would be rude to not download movies/songs/whatever from the internet. Think of all that the web has done for us, do you really want to be mean like that? Do you?
It's never even occurred to me to download a pirated movie. But for that matter, I'm one of those apparently rare souls who always purchases MP3s for download, too.
I actually know somebody who, until very recently, DID NOT realize that it was illegal. When she found out she felt horrible. So that may be the reason for a VERY small percentage of the people who do so.
Besides that, the most frequent answer I always hear about it, is that "they have enough money already, what will it matter to them if I do this?" Of course if enough people have this thought, then nothing new will every be made, because there won't be any money to make them.
But most people can't seem to get that through their THICK SKULLS!!!! :)
I recently downloaded the made-for-tv movie Generation X (based on the comic) but only because I couldn't find any other version every where. I don't pirate movies, generally. So why did I pirate this one?
Cause i knew how. Because I was able too.
In this case, is its worse that I stole it or should I have paid a bootlegger $10-$20 for at a convention?
Also, I don't think its that rare for people to get stuff by legal means.. I think most people are buying music and movies. How many of our mom's are downloading DIVX files? I agree its a problem, but I don't think its the 8th plague.
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