Pirating Stuff

[nonlnear]

Originally Posted by llcooljabe

how can piracy ever be considered anything but unethical? you're getting something you're not paying for when you should be.

Like UM/UIM coverage in New Mexico.

[llcooljabe]

there are so many free ways to get free music--http://elbo.ws is a search engine for music blogs. this used to be shady, but Blogspot adn other blogging platforms purged themselves of unauthorized music blogs.

But this is only good for fans of indie music. IF you find mainstream music on these blogs, most likely not legal. I have a few go to music blogs where I get some quality music.

[remilard]

Originally Posted by Sindel

Not what I said. We're discussing the ethics of piracy, not whether or not it hurts most of the entertainment industry.

Where I come from, hurting people is unethical.

[ADoubleDot]

During his stint at EMI, Merrill (COO of EMI Records) profiled the behavior of LimeWire users and discovered something rather interesting. Those same file-sharing “thieves” were also iTunes’ biggest spenders.

“That’s not theft, that’s try-before-you-buy marketing and we weren’t even paying for it… so it makes sense to sue them,” Merrill said, while undoubtedly rolling his eyes.

That same “try-before-you-buy” discovery was echoed in another study we reported on last week which found that users of pirate sites, including the recently-busted Kino.to, buy more DVDs, visit the cinema more often and on average spend more at the box office than their ‘honest’ counterparts.

http://torrentfreak.com/former-googl...tomers-110726/

word.

[nonlnear]

Originally Posted by remilard

Where I come from, hurting people is unethical.

Where I come from, hurting industries that actively campaign for legislation that damages the public good is ethical.

Oh, and Durai you can put another one down in the unlisted "Don't think it's wrong, too lazy risk averse to do it." bucket.

[Sparktz]

Originally Posted by llcooljabe

how can piracy ever be considered anything but unethical? you're getting something you're not paying for when you should be.

I couldn't agree more. All of the people doing it must have some twisted view of ethics. It looks like all of our actuarial training is doing a lot of good..

[nonlnear]

Originally Posted by Sparktz

I couldn't agree more. All of the people doing it must have some twisted view of ethics. It looks like all of our actuarial training is doing a lot of good..

You do realize that the corporate line about ethics always and unquestioningly conforming to the law is total BS, right? Sometimes the law is wrong. Are there really that many people who voluntarily turn their brains off when it comes time to build a value system?

Corporate ethics training is about managing the company's risk. If you actually think it's teaching you about right and wrong I've got a lobotomy to sell you. If you value your job, you will do these things. That's the deal. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course they prefer if you blindly accept the training as overwriting any independent thought you might have about your values because that makes compliance that much more manageable. However it's perfectly possible to comply with corporate ethics in everything job related and hold [some of] those values in complete contempt.

That's not to say that copyright is an area where I feel inclined to violate policy. I just don't see it as an issue of fundamental values. It is a cultural norm that happens to be given the force of law. I don't much care for cultural norms in general and laws only determine the incentives I face, not my values.

[andyphillips]

I'll make sure I stop reading books at Borders before I buy them, apparently that's unethical.

[Mr. Micro]

Originally Posted by andyphillips

I'll make sure I stop reading books at Borders before I buy them, apparently that's unethical.

If you're still going into Borders, it probably is unethical. I thought they went bankrupt and closed down.

[Mr. Micro]

Where does the library fit into this conversation?

Why is it ok for me to go to the library and check out a CD/movie, then return it? But I can't download that same CD, listen to it, then delete it.