With the passing of Anti Piracy Day yesterday I feel that I must comment on peer to peer file sharing, Thepiratebay.org and the state of illegally downloading copyrighted material.
I'm typing this by the way on a computer that I bought and paid for. On an Internet connection that I pay for monthly, and on a Microsoft Operating System which I got from a friend two years ago who burned me a copy onto a DVD + R. Which he got from a friend who got it from an Internet site called RETESTRAK.com.
So I stole my operating system? Hardly. I paid for the same version I'm using, I'm just using a version that is tweaked, in a way that Microsoft doesn't want it to be. I like this version so much more that I don't use the one I paid for. And I feel that it is my choice as a consumer to be able to have multiple copies of things I've paid for. What if my original CD broke? Do you think Microsoft would replace it? I don't.
I do however have a 200 gigabyte hard drive, full of things I've never purchased. And I'm adding to it more and more weekly. I feel it is my patriotic duty to illegally download copyrighted materials and I'll tell you why.
The entertainment industry is a scam. It's possibly the largest most fraudulent industry ever. They get you to pay for the concert, they get you to buy a shirt at the concert, 3 beers, a lunch pale, and a parking voucher. And then later they release a CD of a "live" performance of that exact same show for another $15 bucks. Or they get you to come and see the movie, then the sequel, then all the prequels, but wait there's more. There's always more. At Christmas time they're re-releasing something you've already paid for 3 times, but this time Gredo is in a new mask.
Another reason that I illegally download copyrighted materials: monopolies are illegal. There is only one motion picture industry, one music industry. They all hide behind a number of aliases, which propagate the appearance of multiple companies, but they are all ran by a few larger companies. Think about it. There is no other competitive way to buy an album. You have to get it on a CD. You have to buy a movie on a DVD. That's where it is a monopoly. You are forced to believe that there is only one way to do something. And you're forced to believe this why? Because they're ripping us off.
Thepiratebay.org is the most popular peer to peer file sharing site on the planet. It is ran out of Sweden, and if you want the entire history you should go to that site, and type in "Steal this Movie" which is a documentary made by Thepiratebay.org themselves. Sweden is like the Delaware of Europe. The Swedish government does not deem it as illegal to share information.
That's really what happens when you peer to peer. I have a file that you want. And I share the information with you. You can use that information to make a CD, a DVD, or share with others.
Sites like Thepiratebay.org are actually a blessing to the entertainment industry as a whole. They are just not smart enough to realize this. They're so abundantly greedy that they fail to see how successful Internet piracy ultimately makes them.
It is the best form of free advertising that money can't buy. The record industry alone claims that 50 billion dollars are lost through piracy annually. That number seems a bit exaggerated. But what they cannot calculate is the money that it generates. And I bet it's bundles.
I have to look no further than myself to know that they benefit immensely from torrent sites and the Internet in general.
My knowledge of music has expanded a hundred times full since I've been a peer to peer user. I've bought several albums that I never would have bought from artists I would have never ever known, solely because I was able to check them out on a torrent site. The same is true for movies DVDs and even some computer software.
On top of that, I'm a very influential person in other people's entertainment decisions. I see a movie on the Internet that I like, and someone at work asks me "Hey have you seen _____________?" If not for the Internet I would not be able to recommend that they go and check that flick out, because I wouldn't have seen it either.
How about instead of Anti Piracy day, we have real holidays that mean something. Like Anti-Dictator day? Anti fat girls in spandex day....? Something tangible.
I'd really like the feedback on this one folks. What do you think? Am I just another criminal?
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1 comment:
Here's the thing that irks me about anti-piracy folks: If I honestly thought that the actual artists were getting the lion's share of the profits from the things they create instead of some fat sweaty suit in an office, I'd be more inclined to feel bad about "stealing" their stuff.
Also, if you're making money from the entertainment industry and you're pissed because you made 5 million last year instead of 20 million, then you need to get slapped. Because you know who needs to be making 20 million or 5 million or hell even 1 million dollars a year? Not you ass-clowns! That money should be being paid to doctors and firefighters and teachers and nurses and shit. Those are the folks who do work that deserves what you're stupid skanky ass is bringing in and dumping on an adult size Big Wheel or coke or strippers! Gah!
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