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Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by phren0logy on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @09:49AM (#31410591)
But that excuse justifies much more than digital piracy. You don't "have to pay for" a car if you can steal one.
Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by silicon2401 on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @10:47AM (#31411495)
Before this devolves into an argument about piracy, let me begin by saying the reason I pirate is because I feel fine doing so. I don't care about any arguments for why others might think I shouldn't. I'm simply not bothered by it.

Back to discussion, I agree that saving money could apply to almost anything. However my first point is that, in my opinion, there's a material difference between digital piracy and stealing a car. If I possess a car, nobody else can own it. However with digital media, I'm making a copy of something that has zero impact on anybody else's ability to own their own copy of that data. The only thing that's lost is my physical storage space that could've stored something else, but that's my call to make.

A second point is that I mainly pirate things I wouldn't have bought otherwise. I still watch movies in theaters because I can't pirate a theater experience (AMC A-list is great if you enjoy watching in the theaters IMO), I still buy modern games because I'm extremely cautious when it comes to running executables.

A third point is that ethically, I consider supporting a mega-corporation like Amazon worse than committing piracy. Mega-corporations commit much more morally heinous actions, and at an enormously greater scale, than an average pirate would ever commit. In my opinion, the moral sin is not that pirates commit piracy, it's that mega-corporations have been given almost free rein to shape and exploit our society as they see fit

Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by pbhjpbhj on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @10:59AM (#31411693)
You'd be denying someone else use of the car. Stealing, especially of physical things, is a far greater moral wrong than copyright infringement.
Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by phren0logy on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @12:01PM (#31412615)
I understand, but that was not the argument I was replying to. The original comment was far broader.
Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by antifa on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @10:31AM (#31411251)
But imagine if you could ride a single lamborgini for free anywhere you want, or:

Pay $10,000 for a KIA that can only goto McDonalds and Burger King, then buy a $15,000 chevy that's the only car that works on the road to to work, then pay $5,000 for a ford that is the only vehicle that will take you to Burger King and the Apple store, but it stops every 5 minutes to show you the same ad repeated 3 times, and the only car that will take you to grandms's house is $30,000 and for some reason it requires 12 cars worth of parking spots. Taco Bell will only be accepting Mazdas starting in August, so you've got to decide what you want to do about that. Also there's no cars you can buy at any price that can go anywhere you want. Nobody sells the lamborgini you can drive anywhere for free.

Anyways, that's why pirating is good.

Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by hotpotamus on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @10:00AM (#31410774)
The secret ingredient is crime.
Re:Tell HN: I probably spend more on piracy than if I just p... by piceas on Tuesday May 17, 2022 @10:13AM (#31410961)
We need a public library for cars!