Because in the words of GabeN, piracy (in a 1st world country) is a service problem and not a pricing problem. Many things are worth paying for, especially when you are supporting smaller creators, artists and indie game devs. But when heavy-handed DRM’s and corporate shovelware and services that actively remove content I pay for makes it a shit experience. I’m gonna just torrent that shit
But when heavy-handed DRM’s and corporate shovelware and services that actively remove content I pay for makes it a shit experience. I’m gonna just torrent that shit
The annoying hurdles are what get me. I’ve cracked a lot of the games that I own because I hate forced updates, going through an additional client, or being asked to sign in for another service that I won’t use.
I once had a valid office key… But since I reset my computer to often the amount of “free activations” was used up… There where so many hoops to jump through to re-activate it that it was easier to get a cracked key to activate my office version… That’s just sick
That kind of related: when mostly single use software works off of a subscription model versus just being available for purchase.
Jep I hate the, “you don’t own anything anymore” mentality… There are some valid reasons to actually provide a subscription, but most of the times it should just be a one time payment
When I was younger I pirated because I didn’t have any money to spare for digital media. Today I have a stable income and can afford all these things but I still pirate because it’s just more convenient in many ways.
Whenever I consume something that I really like I 100% support the artist / developers mostly by buying this exact product and / or some merch or by going to their concerts (if it’s music related)
To me piracy is just a way of freedom. Which includes to respect other people if they like or dislike spending money on certain things. In my eyes we should not split this community in such a way because this would kill the essence of freedom to make your own choices
Pirating gives me the option not to support shit corporations that fuck over consumers with no business ethics. I can pirate the content I choose and pay for it when I want to support creators.
Historically, pirating and underground markets for good and services begin to proliferate in a society as a sign that their economic system is failing. IMHO, unbridled capitalism and corporate shitification in the US is turning the Internet into a hellscape with 5 companies basically controlling the entire Internet with so much lobbying muscle behind them they remain untouchable through what remains of the democratic system.
I don’t pirate because I’m opposed to paying for things. I pirate stuff because I don’t want to support scumbag corporations that don’t give a shit about me. In fact, I buy most of the media and games I consume, in order to support the devs behind it.
And that’s not a “new piracy gen”, that’s how piracy has always been for most people. You’re the odd one out here.
Yea, I’ll pay for things. The problem is, what I want (DRM free media I can use on anything that will open them) is not generally for sale.
It’s a convenience thing. Remember when Apple Music and Spotify used to be $5.99 a few years ago? It was really hard to justify pirating then, for example. Like I’d have to find what I was looking for, close a million pop ups to get the torrent, download it, then upload the files onto whatever device I was using. And I would have to do it over again for the car, and over again for my wife if she asked for it, etc.
Or I could just type it into a search bar, and bam. All for $5.99, and I didn’t have to worry about storage? Sign me up.
The convenience of Spotify is still sort of worth the price, but it’s getting pretty marginal. The other streaming services we use brought us the same level of convenience, but they are getting way too greedy and creating way too many of them. Netflix and the media streamers turned into Cable. Which is going to inevitably turn us all back to pirating as they start cracking down on password sharing and keep creating new services with bloated fees.
The dumb fuckers literally figured out how to defeat piracy. And then drove us back to piracy with their greed. So when they inevitably start crying about it again, tell them all to eat shit.
Between power, hardware depreciation, Usenet/indexer fees and VPN I probably pay somewhere like €50/month to curate my own media collection.
I’d be happy to pay the same for a legal platform that has all the content I want in the same place, like Spotify for music (which I use and pay for).
Right now the piracy experience for movies/series is simply superior to the legal experience , so there is absolutely no incentive for me to switch things up.
This, 100% this, especially that last paragraph.
deleted by creator
Now that unlocks a memory, what was this show called (if it was a show)?
I’m a bit astonished how often I see this kind of thread, even here. It’s like when people complain about FOSS apps charging subscriptions or standalone fees. How many times does it have to be pointed out that piracy as an activity does not define piracy as a movement or a collective?
I’m certain this simplistic “piracy = not paying for stuff” take can only come from a kind of ignorant individualism, one that lacks any structural analysis of why, when, and for what content people turn to piracy (and why, when, etc, they stop).
I ain’t cheap, I just don’t like my money going to billionaires who give us nothing in return. I pay for email, I don’t pay to watch a Marvel film.
I don’t think it’s that hard.
You…pay for email???
Proton!
The fuck if I’m gonna let Google train an AI off my emails.
A lot of us pay for privacy focused email because we don’t want Google or MS steal our data
You have to pay to get a real domain
I don’t mind paying for things when the value proposition is there. Just in entertainment, the prices get skewed way outside value.
Maybe astroturfing, but most likely just people trying to be morally superior to one another.
Yeah all the ethics behind it are arbitrary.
Unless someone wants to grandstand themselves for internet points it’s pointless. A majority of people know to buy something if they like it and it’s not going to change the mind of people who weren’t going to buy it from the beginning.
if the author of a book is still alive and not an absolute tool I’ll pay for it. I’ll absolutely crack it, but I’ll pay for it. and I pay for my VPN
Piracy isn’t a “movement” it’s a means to an end.
To consider it anything more that “get shit for free or delisted/abandoned” is cringe.
When you purchase digital goods you’re downloading capitalism.
I would have never bought skyrim if I didn’t pirate it first. Studios should pay marketing commision for pirates
when amazon books could be de-drmed and “my” torrent site showed an interest/appreciation for uploaders i often uploaded ebouks i had bought.
well, both is no longer the case but if it were i still would.
i also occassionally buy music, books and even movies i very much like.
