Piracy

Greetings. I know it has been quite some time, but I decided that it was about time that I posted something new here.

Anyway, let's back on the topic of discussion.

Piracy.

What do you feel about this issue of piracy? There are many different opinions about the matter.

Some believe that it is beneficial whereas others (majority of whom "own" the product) believe that it should be completely dealt away with.

From a business mindset, piracy is a bit of a nuisance in that potential profits are being lost. However, from another perspective, piracy can somewhat be viewed as a form of free advertising for the product.

In general, there is nothing really "lost" per say as it's not like (in most cases) the "pirate" is not directly profiting (as in monetary terms) off it the use/acquiring of the product itself.

In many cases, the "pirates" are obtaining such items for personal use. Others feel that maybe the product that they have interest in is a bit overpriced and maybe the means by which one were to obtain a "legitimate" copy of the product is time consuming as well relative to using whatever mediums are out there and "obtain" the products at no direct cost via the use of the Internet.

What we are facing in modern times with "piracy" should really be taken a bit more seriously but only after giving it more thought.

The authors of products (that are being pirated) often do not require as much monetary gains as many profit via other means.

Let's take an example.

Musicians (as music "piracy" is often the bigger issue). As many are aware, there are now services where you can download music at a small charge. This includes applications such as the iTunes. Though the prices are within affordable range, the price on each music, video, TV episode, etc are a bit pricey.

Yes you are receiving a "legitimate" digital copy of the product but it is understandable that many people would probably consider (at least for a brief moment) if there was some way to have such media file without paying any money?

This is not far fetched.

This inquiry we have is often without the intention of profiting monetarily. The intention is for personal entertainment.

That's the key here. INTENTION.

There are of course people who "pirate" and then amass a large library of such media files and sell them to people at a decent asking price.

Realistically, that scenario is really what should be confronted. The intention is to amass large quantities of media (various types), and sell such media to people for a monetary profit.

If the intention is just for personal entertainment, what harm is there? Not much really.

It would seem that this apparent issue with "piracy" is a bit vague on how the laws would deal with it. Not much thought has been put into it so a decision is hastily made; often in favor of the "author" of such product.

If the intention is to make money by "pirating" data, then that is understandable to bring about some kind of a punishment of some sort.

If the intention is for personal entertainment, there is no "pirate money" being made. The only profiting made here is strictly personal entrainment.

What do you think about this? Please comment below.