I’ve decided that I’m against software, music and movie piracy.
I wasn’t always. Not that I was pro-piracy, I was just ambivalent. I didn’t participate in it since I prefer higher quality music and movies so I bought CDs and DVDs. I’m a proponent of open-source software and I use it wherever I can, so software was never an issue, either. But lately I’ve noticed that DRM (Digital Rights Management) has become more and more intrusive. This continues to interfere with those of us who are legitimately buying content.
On just the ethical side of things, I do think that intellectual property is property and one should be allowed to make a living creating and selling it. As a computer programmer I very much appreciate the intent of the copyright laws to protect the less tangible work I do. However, the current laws were written so long ago, technology has completely outpaced them. They need a complete overhaul. And the so-called Digital Mellenium Copywrite Act is not the direction it needs to go. The current laws dealing directly with digital technology were written and backed by large corporations and take an all or nothing approach that benefits only them.
Perhaps if the laws were changed to embrace the new age of technology, instead of treating it like an aberration, people would have more legitimate and convenient ways to get content. iTunes has a great business model and it works. The RIAA recently tried to get iTunes to change it’s pricing model, but Apple stood it’s ground and argued that the harder and more expensive it was to get good content, the more people wouldn’t bother doing it legally.
I think there are a few reasons people download music, movies, software and other content.
One: “How else can I find what I want?” They find piracy easier than going out of there way to get legitimate content. Only certain labels and TV networks are using iTunes. And they’re not offering full movies yet so if you want a digital format for some content, the only place it’s offered is through piracy. There may be other sites out there, but how much can I trust them? I know plenty of people who would pay for a good quality copy of music from smaller labels and indie bands. But where can they get it? It’s much easier to download a copy from someone else than to spend your vacation prowling used CD shops in Portland and Seattle.
Two: “It may be stealing, but it’s not really stealing.” Piracy just doesn’t feel like stealing. When you take a DVD from Best Buy you have something tangible that you didn’t before, and Best Buy has one less DVD that they can sell. With ones and zeros that are easily copied, you’re not taking the original away from anyone. Their inventory is not affected. So people feel that, “While I’m getting this for free, I’m not hurting anyone.” The is further compounded by the thought “If I really had to pay money for this, I would not have bought it. So they didn’t lose a sale in me.”
Three: “Even if it does hurts someone, it’s just a bunch of super-rich, greedy executives. They don’t need my money.” You may have a point with that one, I’ll get back to you.
So what now? What should we do about it? Anything? I like that in Canada it’s not illegal to download most music because of something called the Private Copying Tariff. This is basically an extra tax on all blank CDs, DVDs, hard drives, MP3 players, cassette tapes (ask your local museum) and the like which is to help compensate musicians for when you don’t buy a CD. Thsi has been working pretty well, so far. It doesn’t cover everything, though. It could never be considered a universal solution, but it could be a start. Dr. Micheal Giest has a site that’s a good source of info on this.
Will all this piracy ever end? No, I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter how much they crack down on it, the RIAA and MPAA and other acronym oriented organizations will never eliminate piracy. But how far will they pursue it? Well, Sony was putting rootkits on audio CDs last year. They may have been sued by almost every country, state and county affected, but the rest of the industry applauded them. The RIAA got some bad publicity suing 12 year-old girls and forcing college kids to drop out of school to pay fines. They’ve been targeting the high profile users that are sharing upwards of 1,000 songs. Trying to make examples of them. I don’t think it’s worked.
Good post. You made some very valid points. Theft in any form is wrong, but I guess even otherwise morally upstanding and honest folks find ways to justify bending the rules when it seems like it’s a victimless crime.
Along these same lines, I’d like to pose a scenario I’ve been mulling over lately. Recently, my wife picked up some burgers at our local Arctic Circle drive thru. When she got home, she found that they had accidentally given us an extra cheeseburger. We shrugged and said “guess we’ll eat that one too.” Is this theft because we didn’t pay for that particular burger? I think most reasonable people would say no. It’s only a cheeseburger, right? Only a buck something?
Okay, same scenario, but let’s say that the extra item cost about 200 times more. Hypothetically, you order an ipod, or some other techno gadget online and somehow, they shipped a second one to you and you’re never charged or contacted about it. Do you send it back or keep it? Is it theft because it’s value is so much higher?
What would YOU do?
Good question. I’d eat the hamburger. We all know how many times we get shorted at the drive through. Karma, man.
I read an article not too long ago that was full of such moral fiber testing questions. if it were me, I like to think I’d return the more valuable item. But I don’t think I’ll really know until I’m faced with it.
Is this a variation on the age old ethical quandary of “If I’m shipped two cases of Heroclix and I’ve only paid for one, do I send it back, eBay it, or has Christmas come early?”
Oh, did Beau tell you about that?
Yep, that’s the one. I’m just going to hold onto it for awhile and see if they ask for it back. I’m not going to go out of my way to send it back to them, especially if I have to pay for the shipping cost out of my own pocket.
But I’m not going to tell them I have it either.
It’s their mistake. Maybe I’m not being completely honest, but oh well. Fuck ‘em.