Piracy Is Spreading - Is it a New Age Culture ? Is it a culture?

[amitbhandari 0]

The pirate bay is world's best known source for illegally traded movies, games, music etc. However, they don't host it directly but provide the user with torrent links. So, a bit-torrent client is the requirement to access it all.

 

So, how come such a pirate site can survive with so much popularity. The only reason behind it is the server on which it is hosted lies in Sweden. According to an analysis on Weird.com, the pirate bay operator himself agrees that they are against copyright laws. Inspite of all this, it is running and whats more exciting about it is that is has got one million unique hits a day.

 

 

 

How are the surviving?

 

Since they provided torrent data which by no means contains any copyright data, hence is perfectly legal to share thought it may contain pointers to some other sources from where all this copyright data is shared.

 

 

 

This file sharing movement is really affecting the sales of many corporate houses and they are running into loses because of it. And according to Swedish Law, its perfectly legal. So, until the law is changed the services are going to be provided as such. Its really a shame for a country that can't stop such activities as it is leading to wastage of time and money for others.

 

 

 

what should be done?

 

In order to overcome this situation, the Supreme Court must come into play and save the organizations and support the developers who give in their maximum effort to produce quality software not just for being shared free all over the world. The Supreme Court must amend the law and stop these illegal activities of the website.

 

 

 

PS: The website has not been mentioned as the intention is not to share the website but the thoughts against such websites.

 

 

[pyost 0]

I hope I do not get busted for saying this, but IMO piracy is a great thing. Well, maybe not in a rich country, but where I live, it is necessary. Until two years ago, you could get into any games shop and buy a game for $2. Now it is illegal and there aren't any shops. But piracy is still surviving. You can always find someone who sells pirated copies.But why, you might ask, when originals are better? You see, an original costs about $50. It might seem cheap if your salary is high, but in my countru the average salary is $300. You buy food and everything else you really need. After that all you have is - nothing. That's why people rely on piracy. It really doesn't matter, because if it did, companies such as Microsoft and EA Games wouldn't be as worth as they are.As my friend would say, give piracy a chance!

[shadow-x 0]

IMO piracy is a great thing.

Amen! Big companies like those already mentioned are greedy, self obsessed companies. They have no morals or anything like that just greed. Pirate copies of windows are the best thing to hit this planet (although i use a legal version as it came pre-installed) pirate dvds are also great because it costs about £5 to go to the cinema which is a complete con! and the real deal would cost about £20 (not saying that i use any pirate software, musicm dvds etc..of course) These are just my opinions, im not tellin anyone to go out and get anything on pirate, just my veiws that piracy isnt always bad. Of course if theres a new, unsigned artist charging £10 for their first ever albumn id be happy to buy that to help them out rather than get it for free on pirate because they just want to get started and the price isnt too bad but buying software for £100 is a complete con...or a game for £50

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

no kidding, piracy has been spreading for years. It isn't new.xboxrulz

[nitrus 0]

Well piracy is fine to some extent. I dont support people that use it for profit. I believe that giving people their fair chance at a program that they couldn't otherwise get (ie a student/low-wage person) is wonderful, and just getting back at the large corporations. However, when a person sells pirated stuff I feel that they are just stealing money from the company without care of helping the people who bought it. I also believe that people who collect in upwards of 20,000 songs and such illegally need to get whats coming to them. Thats just being greedy.Another thing:I've noticed that new artists don't appear in the pirate spotlight very much. I figure its pretty hard to get their stuff illegally, thereby protecting them from money loss. Bands like metallica are the ones that you see a lot. They make so much money that the dent pirating creates barely does anything to them.Just my thoughts,~Adio

[Sarah81 0]

I love the way that some people can justify piracy by crying poor. "Oh, we don't have enough money to buy Windows legally, and we can't afford this game or that finance software or the graphics program that all the riiiiiich people have."In case people haven't noticed, developers come up with low-cost, and even *FREE*, software all the time.My antivirus didn't cost me anything, and nobody's ever going to prosecute me for using it. My firewall software, graphics editing program, image viewing software, etc. are also free to anybody who would like to download and install them.Oh, and I have a PDF reader AND creator that didn't cost me anything.I could go on and on, but my point is that even I, a lowly student who literally rakes in a whopping fifty dollars a month for spending money, have access to just about any sort of program I could possibly want or need.So ... piracy isn't justified just because the big-name software companies charge arm, leg and one kidney for their products. There are alternatives out there if one is willing to look for them. And of course, we have to be okay with not having THE name-brand that everybody else is using/buying/stealing.Besides, when we use the "no-name" programs instead of coughing up blood for the real thing, we're sending a nice, legal message to Microsoft, Adobe, Norton and all the other makers of overpriced, crappy software. They're only going to prosecute people who steal their programs, but they can't touch you if you use other peoples' software legally.

[Grafitti 0]

Well I've never heard yet of a free copy of windows. As we all know windows users tend to be those who don't know much about computers. Of course there are those who do, but if you look at it on the large scale, probably only 1 out of ten really know what they're doing. So until a linux version can come out with a GUI desktop that is AS EASY TO USE AS THE WINDOWS ONE, with the same amount of built-in driver support, tools, and at the same time looks and works like windows, it's just too much to ask of a lot of people. And while the big-names may cry bloody murder about people pirating their stuff and all the cash they're losing, the fact of the matter is that they have not lost ground, and actually have gained in sales. This was brought up during the Grokster case. It's fine that we don't condone piracy at Xisto, but at the same time it IS something that has merit in its own way. Figure if Microsoft charged half their cost for windows, I'm sure they would sell a whole lot more legal copies. Or if you could lease it. You buy your windows copy, and it simply devaluates in price as the years go by. But if a year later you decide you don't want it anymore, you get back 70% of its value. It's not like you've worn out the license. It definitely is upsetting, even for me, when i bought my laptop i wanted to use Linux. So i ordered my laptop online, but how many stores will ship you a laptop without windows pre-loaded and automatically charged to your account? Now it's getting better, and there's a variety of linux-based notebooks around, but to basically force someone to buy windows, I think that's just as much piracy as someone making an illegal copy of it.

[pyost 0]

Sarah81, you are right, and I support using free software (Linux, OpenOffice etc.), but you see, sometimes it can't give us what we need.For example, look at AutoCad. There are many people that need it, but it really isn't easy to get it, since it costs a few thousands dollars. Sure, you can get another software, free, but it won't be as good as AutoCad. Some software just can't be replaced with something else.And what about games? I'm sure you can't find a Half-Life equivalent for free, can you

[abhiram 0]

In case people haven't noticed, developers come up with low-cost, and even *FREE*, software all the time.

Well yea, GNU is a nice idea. Too bad bandwidth costs money. If only that were free too .

In India, Internet itself costs a tidy sum. Of course, it's come down quite a bit now, but still it's no where near cheap yet. People would rather go out and buy a Windows XP CD for Rs. 100 than download and use Linux.

[finaldesign1405241487 0]

for example, look at AutoCad. There are many people that need it, but it really isn't easy to get it, since it costs a few thousands dollars. Sure, you can get another software, free, but it won't be as good as AutoCad. Some software just can't be replaced with something else.
And what about games? I'm sure you can't find a Half-Life equivalent for free, can you

I must agree with you on this... As I live in country very near yours people at my place share generally the same idea about software piracy.
But I must admit in latest times, I support software companies more than before, and I try to buy every piece of software that Im using, legaly.
But always will be people that can't get enough money to buy software they want.
Edited April 21, 2006 by finaldesign (see edit history)

[organicbmx 0]

i to believe it is about affordability. not that i believe that it is totally ligitimized by the problem. however it is the same situtaion as with the cd market. if you believe the price to be unreasonalbe and it is fairly expensive you are not going to buy it, expeically if you know you can download it for free. it is like the situation where if a cd costs £10, which they often do, then i would be very unlikely to buy it. if it cost £5 i would probably buy it. after all cd-r's and the internet is not free. so you are paying £4 for the real thing with the proper sleave and printed cd and some money goes to the band [and a bit more to the label]. it is the same with software. take adobe creativity suite. the best possible software in it's field. they spend alot of money developing it. but even on a student price it costs about £600. very expensive. if it was £300 i would probably buy it the minute i get a apple mac but right now i am going to be most likely using a crack for the programs i want for an upcoming project.so hopefully piracy will send a message to these people and say. your stuff is obviosuly great but alot of people cannot afford it.

[nitrus 0]

"I could go on and on, but my point is that even I, a lowly student who literally rakes in a whopping fifty dollars a month for spending money, have access to just about any sort of program I could possibly want or need."That's a horrible argument. Im not talking about you. Im talking about the people who NEED these programs to do their JOBS.On the other hand,"nd what about games? I'm sure you can't find a Half-Life equivalent for free, can you" Half Life is only 50 bucks and would be classified as an item that u want, not need, therefore I offer no sympathy if you get caught.Piracy should only be a way to bypass the system for things you need. Using it for DVD's and Windows and Games and Most Music is a problem.

[DjCalvin 0]

Piracy has been around since the late 70's early 80's with the introductions of home computers.Now that the media is soooo soo cheap, and people's connections are a hell of a lot faster than they were in 1990 say, the media has latched hold of this.I can remember bbs's back in the day with a 1200baud modem, they had library's of software on removable hard drives and they would swap out a drive a week. Yes, it took you a week to get the brand spanking new Police quest game, but you got it none the less.Now with the rise of this new fandangled "internet" thingie, everyone is doing it.you used to have to hear about a site hosted on an university's network, or a bbs run out of some guys house.now type in what you are looking for in your favorite search engine, and whalla! pirate-o-mania.Im not saying its right. Please dont get me wrong. But its been here for ages and will not go away.most people in general (broad generalization) want something for free.Yes MS makes you pay $120 for windows xp oem, and then once you upgrade your system enough times you cant use it.. THAT pisses me off. when a case like that comes around, im all for telling MS to go screw. I bought the software, I havent shared it or put it on another computer, I just upgrade a lot. I had to call MS 2 weeks ago for a rebuild after i added another drive and moved a lot of disks to another system. They activated it for me, but told me that I could not activate it anymore. WHY? I could not get an answer out of their help desk.15 minutes later, I had to call them again for office 2003. same thing. Becuase I had installed ms 2003 (I purchased it through MS via my company's work from home store) 2 times, I could not activate it anymore and had to buy a new license.BUllCrap!Im going to give an example, a bad one at that.. but it still applies.Your 18 and living on your own for the 1st time, You work for peanuts to pay your rent and groceries, and you want the latest game for your pc. You dont have the money, so you go and download it.Now your car dies the next week. its going to cost you a couple hundred dollars to fix it. (sorry dont know the conversions here) You dont have the money, but you need your car to get to work, to pay the rent, to feed you etc.. do you steal a car? or less petty, steal the parts to fix your car?No.I dont see how you can justify it at all. you cant afford it? well then save your money. you dont want to pay $50 for something you dont know if you are going to like? shareware or demo it somewhere where you can see it in action. Most companies have a restricted demo copy available. The company charges $1500 for the program. Think of the cost analysis of you using this software, will it increase productivity? usually, yes. will it help you in your job? again, yes. Will you make money from it? yes (if you are paying $1500 for a piece of software, there is a reason for it.)Your a student, and you need maya for your animation class? hey.. there's a free maya out there you know for educational folks.if someone can come up with a legitamate excuse for blatently pirating software, i would love to hear it.Im not talking about the MS will only let me activate xp x number of times, or Adobe wont let me install my educational version on more than 2 computers so i got a keygen... Im talking about a real reason.Just my .02

[yeh 0]

I would agree with xboxrulz. Piracy is definitely not a new age culture. It is always there and would always be there. Enforcement could only reduce the rate of piracy but never eliminate it. As some writers have pointed out, the need for piracy is just too great in certain countries due to their lower income when translated to US dollars. And global companies do acknowledge this fact. For example, Microsoft could just deny security and software update to illegal copies instead of delivering an annoying pop-up. But doing so would mean that suddenly a huge portion of Windows users would be lost, most probably switching to Linux. And that is not a smart thing to do, is it?

[mediafork 0]

Of course it's spreading! In case you haven't notice piracy has been around and becoming more and more of a massive problem for a long time now. Remember how long ago napster was? It's not all to blame on those downloading though. Records are overpriced these days. WAY overpriced. It's rediculous. It's people's way of rebelling and saying 'stuff this, i'm not paying for something if you are just going to rip me off'.At least we're getting a bit better though in a sense of awareness and being able to buy songs cheaper through alternatives such as iTunes, but still the problem will always be around.