"The FBI is wasting time and resources with this issue."
Well, it's not like they're totally focused on this. I mean in the real world, just because there are murder cases (grave issue) which are being addressed, but should you let things like shoplifting (milder issue) go by just because?
"Only the rich are at a loss due to pirating."
Not necessarily. There are a lot of start-up software companies, not everyone's in Microsoft, etc. Also retailers have to make a profit from the products they've purchased to sell. Not all retailers/software stores are big companies I bet. Also, it takes some skill and ingenuity which is mentioned in the article, aside from the actual labor and investment. Now, there's a reason why we pay doctor's a lot of money, though some of you may not see it as just. Could you imagine spending about 10 years of your life in Medical school? How about it's costs and risks involved? I'm not saying that it's this hard to land a career in the software development industry, but it's the same concept, the same concept that applies to all jobs to varying degrees.
Now car companies, a lot of them are rich, why not start stealing their cars? Probably because you can't get away with it so easily. This is the kind of mentality people have that plays a big part IMO in making the world as sucky as it is now.
If you're feeling like a "badass" for doing this, then think again. The way I see it, you're just being the latter half of that word.
"Piracy is harmless/a victimless crime."
Honestly, you don't take anything feasible from the developers/publishers in the most literal sense, but you do remove that sales potential they had. I mean, why would you buy something you already have/stolen? There are some people who say they would and they might, to support the developers, but how early do they plan on doing this? They'd probably want to earn up for other things first before thinking of buying the software they've pirated. In business, and in real life really, there's a difference between having money/getting payed now and later.
"Some good can come out of pirating."
I do agree with this. You can become part of a game's, movie's, etc. fan base. You can spread the word, as to advertise a software, etc. But that still doesn't necessarily justify pirating. If you say you really can't afford the software, well, you probably were able to afford a lot of stuff, maybe even the computer you're using the software on for a start? Just like anything else, software should be honestly and justfully acquired.
As an extreme form of analogy, if you kill someone, that is bad, I bet any decent person would agree. But what if the person you happened to kill was a serial killer or something planning to take many lives? You've then just saved many lives, which is something good that came out of this "bad" act. But that doesn't mean you should go around killing random people because of this possible good outcome.
"Some software are just too expensive. For example, a lot of Adobe software."
Well, like someone mentioned, these expensive software are aimed towards businesses and thus carry a "business price." And I know a lot of people could derive great use from these great software, but hey, just because I want (to own) a bulldozer or a tank doesn't mean I should steal them, no matter how much they cost. Haha! I'm being kiddy here but there's still that point. If I wanted an expensive car, I shouldn't just go about and steal it. Some people want to have so many "wants"/luxuries when some people can't even afford food or medicine in order to survive. If those people steal, that would be a Hell of a lot more understandable (though I'm not saying it's good) than pirating software. I mean, our ancestors didn't really find what they didn't have back then (software or even computers) vital to survival or just plain "living." And hey, there are free software, though they could be (though not necesserily are) not as good as their paid counterparts, they are free!
I used to be a rampant pirate (Yes, with an eyepatch and pegleg. Haha!). But if you think about this issue well enough, you might come to understanding what's so wrong about it. Before, I was able to get good games free by Torrent'ing, but now, I have to earn up for them, but I know this is the right honest way to do things, and people should think more like that. I hope people agree with that. I realized as well that they're more gratifying to play when you have to wait and work for them, just like anything else I guess. Hehehe...
I remember finding this article before. It proved to be reasonable. If you're a pirate, but a still consider yourself to be decent, read this:
http
/www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html One of the things I remember it saying was that if you're a pirate (and don't plan on stopping), then stop justifying it and just admit that you're doing wrong.
I hope I'm able to reach out to some people here.
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