OK, this is an interesting topic, and I think we may get a lively debate going here…
Piracy, where do you stand on it?Please note that this applies equally to games, movies, music, etc. so if you say "Pirating games is wrong!" because you're a game developer, but then download music, you're a big fat hypocrite.My stance is that it is freedom of information. I believe that you have a right to access information without having to pay some sort of fee, and this includes forms of entertainment.But how then, do the producers of information make money?Simple. Movies make money by showing in theaters. Music artists make money by performing live. Both will also profit by selling merchandise. These are extremely profitable ventures, and indeed, music artists for instance rarely make a dime off of record sales anyway, all of that money goes to the RIAA, unless you're huge like Metallica or something.Furthermore, some individuals who are not past pirating will buy legitimate copies anyway, because they simply want to have an 'official' copy. I download games, but I buy legitimate copies of Pokemon games because that's my thing. I just want a legit copy for no other reason than wanting a legit copy.Piracy is not some huge threat to the industries. There will ALWAYS be people available to purchase official copies or merchandise, or go to live viewings and performances. And in the case of small game developers or independent music artists, people are much more likely to shell out the cash as a sign of support for such groups.Piracy stops with accessing information, however. The freedom to access information does not and should not allow you to profit off of other people's ideas by selling their information as your own. The producers of information still 'own' that information and they own the right to make money off of it.
Also for lulz (no disrespect to Vance here):
HeroofTime55 says: i'd ask you to give me a download link for this game cause i want to try it, but something tells me you won't be happy about that Vance - Code Monkey says: Go fucking buy it you piece of shit.Touring would be an occasion where you probably do need gas… maybe I don't understand what you're saying?
Also, RoyalSmacketh, don't shop at convenience stores if you're concerned that your money might be helping others buy drugs!
I'm sorry it was blackhole who mentioned that about electronic music.
I'm not against piracy.
A lot of arguments against it just don't hold any water. Oh, it's taking money out of the artist's pockets, you say? Well, who's to say that if someone didn't pirate something, that they would or even could buy it legitimately? When I was jobless, I pirated due to the inability to buy anything I wanted. I absolutely would've bought it legally if I was capable of doing so, but I wasn't.Of course, now that I have a job, I'm not able to buy every single thing I want all at once. But I'm able to buy it faster than my ability to consume it, and thus my former addiction to torrents vanished instantaneously.I still download stuff that is technically illegal, but for various reasons. I might download the first few episodes of an anime to see if it's worth my time, in which case I'll buy the series legally on DVD. Even if the series is hard to find and really expensive. For instance, Serial Experiments Lain. Downloaded the first 4 episodes, liked it, and subsequently paid nearly $7 per 30-minute episode for the 13-episode series.Or I might download an anime in its entirety, in the case that there is simply no way for me to legitimately buy it. For example, Digimon. The season 1 set is woefully incomplete, actually containing less than half of the season's episodes. There is no product containing the episodes missing from this set;The worst would be my ROM and manga downloading, since I download these even if there were a physical product available for me to buy, simply because I do not have space for a massive collection of old cartridge-based games, nor do I have the space for a massive collection of manga. So really this isn't an issue of me being unwilling to pay for manga or classic games, it's an issue of a product not existing to suit my lifestyle. I would never buy cartridges, but what if Nintendo and other companies were to start selling ROMs of their classic games online? I'd be all over that. What if there were an iTunes for manga? Again, I'd be all over that.I could go on, but i'll end this here."I would never buy cartridges, but what if Nintendo and other companies were to start selling ROMs of their classic games online?"
Virtual Console?I do know what you mean about incomplete shows though, I haven't seen a single copy of the old pokemon seasons on dvd. You can buy some of them online, but my money is in cash form.Sure, Virtual Console exists and it's a start. But it needs more 3rd party games, and it needs GB/GBC/GBA games.
The RIAA is a piece of shit and no one should give them any money. They take all the money from the artists they sign and it doesn't do them jack shit. Modern artists are currently seeking to strengthen smaller record labels that can help promote their music without taking all their money. Pirating their music, however, doesn't really do the artists any good either. The sad truth is the second an artist signs with the RIAA they are fucked. The best anyone can do is boycott the RIAA music and seek online alternatives for a more direct money route, but the artist is in a lose-lose situation. I am currently investigating several alternative venues for promoting music for independent artists who don't want to sell their soul just to get themselves heard. That said, people need to eat.
The music industry has more problems then just internet piracy - the entire system is collapsing. If artists have no way of selling their work, most of them will have to stop producing it in the first place and go work at a fast food joint just to survive. Either someone has to fix this messed up system so artists can support themselves, or artistic expression will be limited to people who have too much free time.I do want to say that I find it rather disturbing that someone would just assume any big band wastes the money on drugs. It's like, excuse me? You're saying if I become successful I will simply start doing drugs? I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly what you meant but you need to be careful about the assumptions you make when you say stuff like that.I am currently waiting for an affordable electric car to appear so I never have to buy gas. Telling people they don't need gas though is pretty unreasonable because of the massive monopoly going on with the oil companies. Cheap clean energy needs to break through several barriers before the oil monstrosities can be extinguished.I purchase many games and sometimes download other games to check them out and see if they are awesome because if they are then I purchase them because I want the devs to make another release :3