comments

1. Andrew Simone on January 27th, 2011 at 11:50 am

   I used to, but not anymore.

2. Deron Bauman on January 27th, 2011 at 11:51 am

   Did you draw a distinction between types of media?

3. Cindy Scroggins on January 27th, 2011 at 11:51 am

   Nope.

4. Michael Smith on January 27th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

   Not anymore.

   When I was in college Napster got BIG just about the time they installed T1 lines in the dorm. Needless to say there was plenty of pirating.

   But I was just telling a friend that, as I was clearing some space on the macbook I freed up 24 GB of space and thought, “that might be enough,” and was instantly reminded of that day I bought a 1GB hard drive – the semester they installed T1 – and thought, “I’ll never fill this thing up…”

   Famous last words.

5. Andrew Simone on January 27th, 2011 at 12:12 pm

   It was less about distinction between types of media and more about where they come from. Large companies, I felt, should be subverted through piracy whereas small homegrown projects were supported.

6. Casey on January 27th, 2011 at 1:48 pm

   Yarrr! Er, Narrr!

7. Phil Bebbington on January 27th, 2011 at 4:43 pm

   I get large applications that I would never be able to justify buying. Never music, I want to own the CD, I don’t want to buy it on a download.

8. Rick Neece on January 27th, 2011 at 5:45 pm

   Is it wrong to co-opt pieces bought to put a mix-tape together to duplicate on a CD and send to friends as a holiday greeting? When the play-list would be happily shared with those who might ask where a particular song came from?

   Sounds more like free marketing to me. Sharing, word-of-mouth, so-to-speak, as it might be.

   Shut me down, if I’m wrong.

9. Rick Neece on January 27th, 2011 at 6:03 pm

   The artist doesn’t get the pennies they’d receive for one or several plays, but their album sales might increase? I don’t know. Would the artist, or the recording company take me to task for it? I don’t know. I’m pretty sure we’ve sold some albums from it. With no recompense from the Man.

10. Cindy Scroggins on January 27th, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    Well, since what I do for a living involves daily licensing and copyright concerns, I’m more entrenched in this issue than most people. I am always mindful that copyright law was developed primarily to ensure a means of sharing scientific and other scholarly information, not to inhibit it. In many cases, I see large publishers as the enemy of the good. But there’s just something in me that catches at the thought of copying a movie or book or CD or piece of software. The funny thing is, if someone else does it, it almost never bothers me. The exception is when it’s clear that the originator will lose royalties (as Andrew describes above). In those cases, I raise an eyebrow and scold.

11. Cindy Scroggins on January 27th, 2011 at 6:06 pm

    Rick, hon, you’re okay in doing what you’re doing. No money is changing hands, and presumably you’re copying from originals that you own. Nobody’s gonna get bent out of shape over that. The only time publishers show interest in things like that is when someone is making an anthology for wide distribution.

12. Rick Neece on January 27th, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    Thank you, Cindy. We do copy from what we own. It is not an anthology. No money is changing hands. The distribution is not wide. I feel better.

    And no less better knowing some who receive it might roll eyes at some selections, still, there might be something someone would ask about and we would happily offer the location to buy it (as if they couldn’t find it for themselves).

13. Josh Weichhand on January 28th, 2011 at 9:03 am

    I admit I have and sometimes do. I don’t really have a way to justify it – in the past I used to think that if I enjoyed an album I pirated, I would support the band by going to a concert (where, I presumed, they would see a more direct profit from their art). I think this is open hypocrisy on my part, as I wouldn’t apply similar logic elsewhere in life – maybe I’m making distinctions where there shouldn’t be any.

14. Derek White on January 28th, 2011 at 11:32 am

    I am left with no other option. I wouldn’t if i was living in the states, but they make it too hard for people overseas, can’t buy on Amazon or other places. No Netflix. And I maxed out on switching my intl settings back and forth for DVDs, that I just say fuck it now and steal everything.

15. Cindy Scroggins on January 28th, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    Derek, give us a wish list. I’ll gladly find things and send them to you.

16. Derek White on January 28th, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    Thanks Cindy. I’m able to get pretty much everything, except maybe new releases. Haven’t been able to get get newer things like Blue Valentine or Biutiful yet, unless i want to watch a crappy version filmed in a movie theatre. Or something kind of obscure, like the newish Weekend album, Sports.

17. Dave Vogt on January 28th, 2011 at 11:16 pm

    It’s a complex issue. Do I acquire and use software to the letter of the terms? No, not as such. I don’t take any software wholesale from torrents or the like.

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