What do you all think about piracy?
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There are three points I could make:
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Most software that is not free these days is also stealing all your private data. The value in these applications is generally greatly reduced, and in many cases, truly free alternatives exist, so the need to pirate should be much reduced from the past.
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Where the first point doesn't apply, there is usually a reason. Either the company has used their monopoly powers to force people to use their software in order to do their job or to interact with government agencies (Adobe is one that often comes to mind). In this case, the ethics of the situation IMHO mean that pirating is OK. If the company is doing unethical things to force you to buy something, then doing something unethical to not pay for it is an exception in my opinion. The person would not be buying the software if they weren't forced to and purchases should not be forced.
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Access for the poor is another issue where I don't see this as an issue. The poor will never be able to afford the software, so no one is losing money on the sale and it only benefits the company to have people using it if it's a locally running application. There may be some concerns if there are essential services involved that require servers or other systems that have to be maintained by the vendor, but otherwise, Windows having been pirated for decades made it ubiquitous. Without that, poor people likely would never have touched Windows and would have learned Linux or Mac or something else instead and Windows wouldn't have as many people locked in as it does now. So, for the poor, assuming it's software that runs locally, I see no issues from an ethical standpoint in general.
These are just my opinions, but I'm not alone. And this is not to be used as justification for specific actions, just very general points about the ethics of software piracy. For reference, I've done a lot of research on software ethics from both the user and vendor side and used to run a nonprofit on this subject.
Further to your point about Adobe: their market position is such that they'd probably rather you pirate their software than not use it at all
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
I have been dealing a lot in piracy. I don't really do that anymore. I've switched to many free or fair software creators. I don't mind paying for the software or games I use. I do mind paying for something, and then not owning it, and being tracked by it and just paying a lot, because the software producer has a kind of monopoly.
I support FOSS and others, with small donations. Like Mozilla, LibreOffice, Inkscape, Krita, Linux Mint and a lot of others.
I think you should pirate away on unethical companies. Do it for many of the reasons other mention in this thread, and do it because they are greedy and don't respect you!
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
We ll have to torrent porn really?
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
If a provided service is good and made accessible reasonably, I’ll use it and happily pay. As soon as it is intentionally obtuse or consumer hostile, say no more; I take to the seas.
But in all cases, I prefer FOSS first. It is generally better, more secure, has more vibrant communities, and represents a dying breed of freedom that we all need.
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
It's not so easy to answer if piracy is ethical, depends of the context. It's not the same soft from a shady company and from a small dev team or startup. Anyway, due to the overhelming amount of free alternatives, piracy in most of the cases isn't necessary. I'm using an PC since almost 30 years now and never had the need to piracy an soft or pay for it. There are tons of free and OpenSource soft and services out ther, often better as the commercial ones, giveaway campaigns in games (Steam, Itch.io, DigiPen and others are full of good free games) and soft, free music (Bandcamp, Pixelfed, FMA,,,,,), etc. only needs to search a little.
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If a provided service is good and made accessible reasonably, I’ll use it and happily pay. As soon as it is intentionally obtuse or consumer hostile, say no more; I take to the seas.
But in all cases, I prefer FOSS first. It is generally better, more secure, has more vibrant communities, and represents a dying breed of freedom that we all need.
This is the way. The same goes for media too. Look at the state of streaming services, DRM, and digital storefronts, it's a shitshow
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I'm honestly... In the middle.
My home network is covered by a VPN, which means I can't use streaming services without punching a hole for my home IP and sacrificing a little privacy - which I'm not willing to do. I've gone through my part and contacted providers to lemme through, without success. Even Amazon who CLEARLY knows my name and mailing address still won't let me watch things even if I own Prime...
So yes, I pirate movies and tv shows. I've tried to cooperate, but if my money isn't enough, then so be it.
Video games I no longer pirate, I'm content with Steam. I also backup all my installs on an external hard drive in the unlikely event Steam goes under or a company demands pulling a game from my profile.
This is no longer true for Nintendo. Their latest attitudes have resulted in me deleting my account and becoming a loyal pirate for Nintendo games. They literally turned me into what they're fighting, ironic right?
I also no longer pirate general software because 98% of the software I use are FOSS, self created, or just free+offline in general. The other 2% is software I purchased because it was a lifetime permanent license and for software I felt deserved the money for support.
So yeah big tech is my main enemy. If I need something and they won't work with me without ransoming my privacy and rights, then yeah so be it.
I like you. Your brain works in the right frequencies.
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I have a few personal rules about it, eg. I'll try not to pirate smaller, independent things where it might conceivably screw over the creator, but other than that it's all fair game IMO.
As a side note, it's been interesting to grow up hearing non-stop from the corporate world that piracy is evil and is killing art or whatever, only to watch them do a full 180 in the last couple of years now that they need to pirate the entire internet to train AI.
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Stealing boats should not be considered a crime against humanity.FOSS is nice in that it's not going to turn around and do something malicious. Pirated proprietary software both can and has a stronger-than-usual motive to.
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
It’s a good way to get your data stolen/malware. Don’t get me wrong from 10-18 I used pirated software exclusively. But it’s not secure or a good idea at all if you’re going to use, say, banking or crypto stuff. You can get a winblows key from a reseller for like $15-20USD. I personally wouldn’t mess around with any of it anymore. I got a bunch of cool art programs in a bundle for I think $25 ($400 usd value) that I use now, and before that I used Krita.
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I have a few personal rules about it, eg. I'll try not to pirate smaller, independent things where it might conceivably screw over the creator, but other than that it's all fair game IMO.
As a side note, it's been interesting to grow up hearing non-stop from the corporate world that piracy is evil and is killing art or whatever, only to watch them do a full 180 in the last couple of years now that they need to pirate the entire internet to train AI.
My only rule is that I won't pirate it if I would otherwise buy it and not do without it. Either way they make no money from me, but sometimes after pirating I'll want to actually buy it.
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
With how shit my countries consumer protection laws are,
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
Ethically? If you would've bought it if you couldn't pirate it, you should probably buy it.
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I have a few personal rules about it, eg. I'll try not to pirate smaller, independent things where it might conceivably screw over the creator, but other than that it's all fair game IMO.
As a side note, it's been interesting to grow up hearing non-stop from the corporate world that piracy is evil and is killing art or whatever, only to watch them do a full 180 in the last couple of years now that they need to pirate the entire internet to train AI.
Rules for thee but not for me
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I prefer to use FOSS software. There is a risk of getting malware from pirated software. Even if there is no malware, commercial software usually has lots of tracking and telemetry anyways.
Yup, network usage monitoring is a necessity when sailing the high seas.
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This is the way. The same goes for media too. Look at the state of streaming services, DRM, and digital storefronts, it's a shitshow
What's hilarious is, Netflix damn near killed piracy completely. Until every single network decided to do it themselves.
They forgot the most important part of piracy. Access.
I am NOT paying for your entire streaming service if I want to watch a movie.
Not to mention, a LOT of older movies should be in the public domain by now, and therefore free to watch. But nope, in fact, many older movies are simply gone. Never to be seen again.
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I pirate everything. I started more than 35 years ago when I didn't have any other option because of my location, so it became the norm. Later, I didn't have much money and I didn't want to spend it on software and games. Later I just stuck with it. I never delved into ethics of it - it seems a very tedious task to do.
I did buy some stuff here and there. But even today, id pirate games for sure, in not going to dish out 50, if I don't even know if I'll like it.
Interestingly, never in my life I had issues with viruses or malware. Sure I got some, but the basic antivirus software delt with it and I had no consequences.
Got my first home computer in 1984. I've sailed the high seas off and on pretty much my entire life.
I hung up the hat for a while when Netflix really had their heyday, and had pretty much every show and movie.
But then studios and networks started pulling shows from Netflix, and creating their own streaming services, prices kept creeping higher and higher.
I finally had enough. They wanna play? Ok. We'll play.
Stand and deliver bitches.
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
wrote last edited by [email protected]3 words.
Stand.
And.
Deliver.
I'll admit to being mostly right of center in a lot of ways gasp HERE??! Lol.
But I'm no boot licker.
Anarchocapitalist is probably the closest category.
That said, there's nothing I like more than fighting back against "the man" whether that "man" is a corporation or the government itself.
So when corporations, or anyone really, tries to fuck me over?
Stand. And. Deliver. Bitch.
I turn 49 in August. I've had a home computer since 1984. I am of the generation that could work on the old school computers, and I've been pirating since the 80s.
If you want me to PAY you, make it worth the money. Otherwise, I'll get it however I can get away with.
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It’s a good way to get your data stolen/malware. Don’t get me wrong from 10-18 I used pirated software exclusively. But it’s not secure or a good idea at all if you’re going to use, say, banking or crypto stuff. You can get a winblows key from a reseller for like $15-20USD. I personally wouldn’t mess around with any of it anymore. I got a bunch of cool art programs in a bundle for I think $25 ($400 usd value) that I use now, and before that I used Krita.
What banking or crypto software are you pirating lmao
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Pirated and OS software are different things, obviously. But would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of switching to both OS software AND pirated software. Just want opinions and tips from this community.
I think it is unethical to pay (or demand payment) for things that can be copied freely. It's a joke, insanity, a depraved legacy/necessity from the Blue Church.
