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Debate Wars

Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information - Page 1

Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information

Posted by: Kyoukipichi
Date: 2009-02-17 00:00:46
What's your stance on this? Most people may think it evil, for one reason: if everyone did it, the companies wouldn't make any money.


What I believe about this:

That might not be very true. Companies might simply be unable to make much money, due to their obsolete business models. They should just adapt to a world where information can be transferred freely and easily, as is the case with the Internet.

Or one could let them do what they've done for a long time, and make copyright expire a few years (instead of a long time after the creator died) after it is issued, and the copyrighted "intellectual property" would become open to the public domain, or almost become completely public domain, but require you to give credit. That way, the companies/artists can get the profit from it, and afterwards, it'd be free for all to share, preserve, and make derivatives of it.

The first true copyright law first originated in the year 1710, but before, the world seemed to thrive well. It was considered flattery if you copied one other's work, and really, I much prefer that era's attitude about it than this one.

So, why do I support unrestricted sharing and derivatives of copyrighted work? It's free distribution of information to benefit people (think of libraries), helps boost creativity because almost everything made has been inspired by something else, and ensures preservation by spreading copies.

By strictly controlling information, things won't progress very well if people are unable to improve on ideas, and it's a lot like suppressing free information.

Would you think you're in a good world where everyone can easily find any kind of information without being censored and lied to? If so, you should consider the benefits that may result from allowing unrestricted sharing and derivatives of copyrighted data, and think about how the problem can be solved, instead of just plainly denying the possibility of ever allowing piracy.

Re: Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information

Posted by: wesnr
Date: 2009-02-17 04:18:12
Hmm…Well I Don't Think It's That Evil..To Tell The truth I Do It A Lot…But Only Because I Can't Afford Most Of the Products

Re: Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information

Posted by: MissingNo
Date: 2009-02-17 08:33:38

Hmm…Well I Don't Think It's That Evil..To Tell The truth I Do It A Lot…But Only Because I Can't Afford Most Of the Products


I agree with Blaster. Many commercial products are out of people's hands, especially with the strapped economy. As much as I'd like to be able to work with Adobe CS4 Master Collection, I can't afford a $2,500 piece of software.

The other thing I see with piracy is a constant struggle to combat it with new forms of digital rights management.

For example:
One company releases a program. This program gets pirated. Company releases *new* version, with anti-piracy. Pirates crack anti-piracy. Company releases another version with another anti-piracy check. Pirates crack this again.

Look at Apple. That fight has (and still) happens. Even though it's not piracy per-se, Apple is trying to combat people who "jailbreak" their iPods and iPhones. They release software updates that break things such as the "yellowsn0w" unlock for iPhone 3G. Then groups like the iPhone Dev Team end up determining what breaks and circumventing it. Then Apple releases another patch… and the cycle continues.

The one thing I'd have to say, though: Ask the company who makes the software if there's a discount or otherwise you can get. You may be lucky...

Re: Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information

Posted by: Thomas
Date: 2009-03-23 17:52:00

What's your stance on this? Most people may think it evil, for one reason: if everyone did it, the companies wouldn't make any money.


What I believe about this:

That might not be very true. Companies might simply be unable to make much money, due to their obsolete business models. They should just adapt to a world where information can be transferred freely and easily, as is the case with the Internet.

Or one could let them do what they've done for a long time, and make copyright expire a few years (instead of a long time after the creator died) after it is issued, and the copyrighted "intellectual property" would become open to the public domain, or almost become completely public domain, but require you to give credit. That way, the companies/artists can get the profit from it, and afterwards, it'd be free for all to share, preserve, and make derivatives of it.

The first true copyright law first originated in the year 1710, but before, the world seemed to thrive well. It was considered flattery if you copied one other's work, and really, I much prefer that era's attitude about it than this one.

So, why do I support unrestricted sharing and derivatives of copyrighted work? It's free distribution of information to benefit people (think of libraries), helps boost creativity because almost everything made has been inspired by something else, and ensures preservation by spreading copies.

By strictly controlling information, things won't progress very well if people are unable to improve on ideas, and it's a lot like suppressing free information.

Would you think you're in a good world where everyone can easily find any kind of information without being censored and lied to? If so, you should consider the benefits that may result from allowing unrestricted sharing and derivatives of copyrighted data, and think about how the problem can be solved, instead of just plainly denying the possibility of ever allowing piracy.


Didn't copyright use to last 28 years and you had the option of renewing that copyright once for 28 years?

Re: Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information

Posted by: Phrawger
Date: 2009-03-23 18:16:30
I'm very divided on the issue of piracy. On the one hand, I choose not to pirate on the grounds of some moral code of which I still can't determine the source (I'm offering $400,000 to anyone who can find it), but on the other hand I don't care if anyone else pirates.

I don't think all information, files, music, etc should be free because these things make up a solid portion of our economy and it'd be hard to just say "Well, find something else to fill the void". However, I don't think piracy should be punished by law.

Re: Piracy/Sharing of copyrighted information

Posted by: xparasite9
Date: 2009-03-25 16:43:15
If it's your intellectual property, and you explicitly state that you do not want anyone distributing it without explicit consent and that you do not want anyone to make any modifications to it whatsoever, then one would be breaking the law if one were to act against these wishes, especially if one was required to sign a document in order to obtain a copy.