Software Piracy

[Medfordcoug]

Piracy is not stealing?

And I thought pirates were into stealing.

[Indy Coug]

Piracy is not stealing. It's copyright infringement. They're both illegal, but they're not the same thing.

The way the term is being used at the beginning of this thread, they are.

[falafel]

The way the term is being used at the beginning of this thread, they are.

How so?

If you steal a CD from the store, that is a piece of property the store already paid for and would have likely sold to another consumer had you not stolen it.

With software, as some here have mentioned, maybe you never would have purchased it in the first place. You are not taking anything physical that represents an outlay of funds and that cannot now be sold to someone else. Adobe doesn't lose any money when someone pirates their software (unless, of course, that person would have bought a full copy if the pirated one was not available).

[woot]

And I thought pirates were into stealing.

They are. Piracy is a corrupted term applied to the practice of copyright infringement to make it seem more sinister than it is. If Pirates had boarded people's boats and made copies of all their stuff and then sent the victims on their merry way completely intact, then piracy would be a good word.

Bootlegging might be more accurate, but I don't have a problem with piracy, since I think everyone knows what the new definition is.

[Soccermom]

I have strong feelings on software piracy.

Whatever you want to call it -- theft, piracy, copyright infringement -- it makes no difference to me. Sure, if you pirate software, the odds of getting caught are low and the odds of facing any severe penalty if caught are low unless it is mega piracy. Nonetheless it is just as bad as stealing in my book. The entitlement mentality of I deserve it now and should not have to pay that much for it or wait until I can afford to buy it legally, because even though it cost the company millions to develop it, I deserve it for free. I don't see how that is different from the kid in the ghetto who feels entitled to steal an Ipod or DS.

[Solon]

I have strong feelings on software piracy.

Whatever you want to call it -- theft, piracy, copyright infringement -- it makes no difference to me. Sure, if you pirate software, the odds of getting caught are low and the odds of facing any severe penalty if caught are low unless it is mega piracy. Nonetheless it is just as bad as stealing in my book. The entitlement mentality of I deserve it now and should not have to pay that much for it or wait until I can afford to buy it legally, because even though it cost the company millions to develop it, I deserve it for free. I don't see how that is different from the kid in the ghetto who feels entitled to steal an Ipod or DS.

What's your opinion about making backup copies of legitimately purchased DVD's for personal use? Does the purchaser have the right to safeguard a legally purchased DVD or CD?

[Indy Coug]

What's your opinion about making backup copies of legitimately purchased DVD's for personal use? Does the purchaser have the right to safeguard a legally purchased DVD or CD?

Fair use?

[The_Tick]

Nice justification Woot.

Call it what you will, it is still theft.

Go ahead and write your thesis for your PhD. Let me take a copy of it, and pass it off to others as something I have written.

Would you feel wronged? I didn't steal it from you...it was copywrite infringement.

[Soccermom]

What's your opinion about making backup copies of legitimately purchased DVD's for personal use? Does the purchaser have the right to safeguard a legally purchased DVD or CD?

I'm not the patent attorney in the family, but I believe all digital media can be backed up if you only use one version. Example: You buy a new CD and download it to your ipod and then you archive the CD you purchased. You are only using the Ipod version and storing the CD -- you bought one copy, are using one copy. If that makes sense. But perhaps one of our patent attorneys could expound.

[Coach McGuirk]

Fair use?

is it?



Without monetary gain. Am I or am I not authorized to make a digital copy of a movie I own? As of now, I am.

[woot]

Nice justification Woot.

Call it what you will, it is still theft.

Go ahead and write your thesis for your PhD. Let me take a copy of it, and pass it off to others as something I have written.

Would you feel wronged? I didn't steal it from you...it was copywrite infringement.

If people were downloading photoshop and pretending they created it, you'd have a point. No one does that. By definition, it's not theft. It just isn't, even if you close your eyes very tightly and wish it to be so.

But we're off track here. I won't defend piracy. It's unethical, as I've already said. There's just no sense in mischaracterizing so thoroughly why it's wrong.

[Indy Coug]

I burn copies of my kid's CDs so when they scratch the copy beyond use, I can take the original and burn them a new copy to use and abuse. Hopefully that's not illegal.

[TripletDaddy]

If people were downloading photoshop and pretending they created it, you'd have a point. No one does that. By definition, it's not theft. It just isn't, even if you close your eyes very tightly and wish it to be so.

But we're off track here. I won't defend piracy. It's unethical, as I've already said. There's just no sense in mischaracterizing so thoroughly why it's wrong.

you aren't a legal dude, so just curious about the definition of theft to which you refer.

It has been awhile, but I seem to recall that what we are discussing is a form of conversion, which definitely falls under theft, at least from what I remember in my Crim class. Or torts. can't remember which.

[SCcoug]

I haven't pirated software or other media for that matter for a long long time but I do have a problem with many of the online distribution models of music/movies/books ect. If I understand things correctly usually you don't buys these products but license them, which limits your ability to legally use and share compared to a purchase of a physical book or movie.

[falafel]

you aren't a legal dude, so just curious about the definition of theft to which you refer.

It has been awhile, but I seem to recall that what we are discussing is a form of conversion, which definitely falls under theft, at least from what I remember in my Crim class. Or torts. can't remember which.

torts.