Re:Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"
by chasing on Saturday December 01, 2012 @05:15PM
(#4859201)
No, it's pretty far off from reality. It's an extreme edge case that doesn't at all justify pirating Photoshop.
Re:Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"
by angersock on Saturday December 01, 2012 @05:18PM
(#4859214)
Ah, you're correct--we were talking about software mainly, not music.
Software companies never go out of business without selling off their assets, and it's the extreme edge-case where people continue to distribute the works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware
Re:Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"
by Kerrick on Saturday December 01, 2012 @06:00PM
(#4859333)
Again, abandonware does not justify pirating Photoshop, a product that is constantly updated by a very active company.
Re:Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"
by Karunamon on Saturday December 01, 2012 @06:08PM
(#4859358)
See also abandonware or emulation of older systems. It's technically illegal for me to go download a copy of System Shock, but the company that made it is long gone, and the company that bought their assets isn't doing anything with it.
Illegal? Sort of. Immoral? Not really.
Re:Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"
by Domenic_S on Sunday December 02, 2012 @05:30AM
(#4860791)
> There is no reasonable "victim" left for this crime of infringement
The victim is the artist's heirs.
A rap artist is hired by a label to create an album. Said artist later dies. The label goes bankrupt soon thereafter, or perhaps simply folds up shop and leaves the business without auctioning off its assets.
I have produced a copy of the album, which I host at my own cost from my server, once these events have transpired. There is no reasonable "victim" left for this crime of infringement, and indeed I'm helping to reduce the scarcity of this product in the world.
While somewhat contrived, this thought experiment is not particularly far off from reality.