What piracy is not
Frans says I'm “handling the discussion wrong” from my last entry. I wasn't aware that I was bound to any one person's discussion guidelines. If you don't like how I handle it, don't respond.
The reason I don't care to have fair use brought into a discussion about piracy is because it's a distraction from the real issue. I think that most reasonable people on the planet would agree that it's OK to backup or copy some copyrighted work for your own use. If most people agree on that (and it's safe to say that everyone short of the RIAA and MPAA does), then why muddy up the issue? I was never talking about this type of use in the two previous posts.
The issue is that of piracy, stealing, theft... all the same where I come from. Kids downloading Doom 3 and not paying for it. Distributing copies of Windows and Office around Asia. Obtaining a copy of Photoshop or 3DS Max and not paying for it because you're “just a hobbyist.” That's a problem.
The moral justification some people make in the previous post absolutely disgusts me. Matt says, “The reality of the situation is that a very large proportion of the community feel they're being taken for a ride by large intellectual property companies - charged exorbitant prices for product that's not really worth it especially given the draconian restrictions on it.” So that makes stealing OK?
He further says, “The IP industries need to a) respect their customers instead of treating them like thieves b) charge realistic prices for their products.” I fail to see how Adobe or Microsoft treats me like a thief, if you're talking about product activation. Apple's DRM on iTunes is also reasonable enough, and it hasn't prevented me from using my music or inconvenienced me in any way. If you think these are issues, you're free not to purchase the products. I'm sure you can come up with other products that do have restrictions you don't agree with. I can too, and I choose not to buy them.
As for “reasonable prices,” that's not for you to decide. You can choose to not purchase a product and vote with your feet. That's capitalism. People have stated they use PaintShop Pro instead of Photoshop, or Star Office instead of Microsoft Office. What kind of world would we live in if we just stole everything we thought was too expensive?
The bottom line is that just because a product doesn't meet your expectations in terms of price or certain qualities doesn't justify stealing it. You wouldn't do it with some kind of physical object, so why would you do it with some kind of digital media? Answer that question... I dare you.