My friend and I had a long debate about this today. She said it was wrong to download music, films and games from the internet. I said it's not wrong, that most people can't afford to buy CDs and DVDs right now because of the credit crunch. Then I said 'I bet more people download films instead of buy them now'... So she told me that you'd eventually get arrested, which I don't believe... loads of people download films and music and don't get sent to prison, right?
So... what do you do? Do you buy CDs and DVDs or do you download them? I buy all my music off iTunes, so technically that is still downloading... but legally. Do you think it's wrong to download things that you can't afford?
Hmm...
"How can I be a gynecologist? I can barely look a woman in the eye!"
♥
Buying your music off itunes is still paying for it, so that's all nice and fine.
I buy singles off itunes, but I do download albums through file-sharing. I prefer a proper CD or record though and will buy them when I can afford them.
I have loads of downloaded music, and although I know it's bad (yeah, I do think downloading illegally is wrong), I'm a little bit selfish.
Last edited by Dreaming. : 03-03-2009 at 09:21 PM.
Reason: Removed the name of a file-sharing site. Thanks :) x
I buy my music from itunes now. But I still buy all my movies. I don't download music or movies illegally anymore cause it kept f*cking my computer up haha :P
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
I don't really download anything. The odd song here and there but I prefer to buy the music because it's something a physically have, with the artwork and everything.
I don't have a problem with downloading though.
Downloading from iTunes is completely different to downloading from some illegal source.
At the end of the day, downloading from an illegal site is still illegal, it's still stealing.
Having accessible music on your laptop (especially with so many radio stations, not to mention youtube) is a luxury, not a necessity. Stealing bread because your family has been laid off in the credit crunch, and you can't afford food is... Not excusable, but it's one situation whereby the 'credit crunch' excuse can be used.
At the end of the day, stealing is stealing. Especially if it's a luxury that you don't need.
Regardless of whether or not you'd be arrested, hopefully it's a moral situation, not a legal situation. In the same way, chances of being caught stealing an item of clothing is fairly slim, unless it's a shop with a decent security system - but you still wouldn't do it.
I do know someone who did get busted for downloading music! But they downloading soooooooooooooooo much stuff. I don't know how you get caught but I knwo that you can.
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
yo can get caught quite easily... just unless you download ALOT they dont bother as would cost more overall to raid your home than just leave you to it
I buy all my music from iTunes, as I said, and all my games (for my Wii and Playstation 2 etc) I buy too... but I don't really buy films. I download films mostly, to be honest. I'm not worried about getting caught because I don't download much.
I think it is kind of wrong to download films and things like that, but if you can't afford it then... you can't afford it. That's what I think. Also, film stars have a lot of money anyway, all you are really doing when you buy a DVD is giving them more money.
"How can I be a gynecologist? I can barely look a woman in the eye!"
♥
My friend and I had a long debate about this today. She said it was wrong to download music, films and games from the internet. I said it's not wrong, that most people can't afford to buy CDs and DVDs right now because of the credit crunch. Then I said 'I bet more people download films instead of buy them now'... So she told me that you'd eventually get arrested, which I don't believe... loads of people download films and music and don't get sent to prison, right?
So... what do you do? Do you buy CDs and DVDs or do you download them? I buy all my music off iTunes, so technically that is still downloading... but legally. Do you think it's wrong to download things that you can't afford?
Hmm...
of course it's wrong! everyone who downloads must know it is wrong to steal.
i don't believe the "not being able to afford in the credit crunch." for one illegal downloading was happening way before this financial crisis started and as jo said, music isn't a necessity.
and no, i don't think 99% of people who download will ever get caught. i download A LOT of music & films and i know it's wrong & against the law & whatever but i don't care.
I think it is kind of wrong to download films and things like that, but if you can't afford it then... you can't afford it. That's what I think. Also, film stars have a lot of money anyway, all you are really doing when you buy a DVD is giving them more money.
If you can't afford it, you can't get it.
Simple logic, surely?
If you can't afford it, stealing doesn't justify it.
I'd love a Chloe handbag, I can't afford it - but I'm not going to steal one.
And yes, the film stars may have money. But what about the film crew, the producing studio, the publishing companies, the shops that are losing money because people can download (legally or otherwise), rather than going into shops and buying things.
Downloading from iTunes is completely different to downloading from some illegal source.
At the end of the day, downloading from an illegal site is still illegal, it's still stealing.
Having accessible music on your laptop (especially with so many radio stations, not to mention youtube) is a luxury, not a necessity. Stealing bread because your family has been laid off in the credit crunch, and you can't afford food is... Not excusable, but it's one situation whereby the 'credit crunch' excuse can be used.
At the end of the day, stealing is stealing. Especially if it's a luxury that you don't need.
Regardless of whether or not you'd be arrested, hopefully it's a moral situation, not a legal situation. In the same way, chances of being caught stealing an item of clothing is fairly slim, unless it's a shop with a decent security system - but you still wouldn't do it.
*wishes Dicky was still here to argue this*
*Agrees*
Quote:
Originally Posted by kayteewalker
I think it is kind of wrong to download films and things like that, but if you can't afford it then... you can't afford it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreaming.
If you can't afford it, you can't get it.
Simple logic, surely?
If you can't afford it, stealing doesn't justify it.
I'd love a Chloe handbag, I can't afford it - but I'm not going to steal one.
Indeed, just because you aren't physically going into a shop and stealing something, doesn't mean you aren't stealing.
That being said i have downloaded songs via soulseek but only a couple. I've never downloaded films/tv shows, i tend too watch them online instead or wait until the DVD is mega cheap.
Ali xox
With demons dancing off mirror images reflecting all that you wanted.
So far from perfect, onward we will strive.
Take it for what it's worth, this truth that you've realized.
You're not who you thought you were, it's time to see the other side of what you have become.
I download albums, documentaries and films quite a lot. I still believe it is stealing but somehow I feel less guilty because I'm not physically sneaking it out of a shop :\
I do prefer to have the actual product sat on my shelf but 'free' is just so damn appealing.
Definitely wrong, definitely stealing, definitely very common place.
Downloading music/films from a legal source is fine. It is when you use illegal sites or are not paying for the material when it becomes wrong. It is stealing.
It's not just the movie stars or the pop stars who are losing out. You are stealing from hundreds of other people and may well put them out of a job, which in this current climate is hardly ideal. There are hundreds of people who need to be paid in making/producing/editing/marketing/selling/I could go on forever and by not paying for the end result you are in effect stealing from all of these people. People who are not on multi-million dollar/pound salaries, but are living on an average wage and for some, quite a lot less than average.
Music and films are not a necessity. You do not need them, you want them. I want a lot of things, but I can't afford them so I need to accept that I either do without or work and save up for what I want. I don't just go around stealing stuff that I want. Singles are quite cheap (79p) which is less than a bottle of Coke. There is also the radio if you want to listen to music but cannot afford to pay for it.
stealing is bad !!
i cant hack people who steal. (idoits)
but for some reason i dont see downloading as theft but it clearly is.
things do impact on people . like the fact that more people have started to illigally download stuff but thats then impacted on prices . i can remember the time when a single was £1 and now it varies from £1.99 to £2.99. that might not seem like a huge amount but it does make a difference !!
the companies want to make up the money !! for every house hold in the uk theres an extra £150 due to shoplifting/downloads. thats loads!!
but then again if someone is given something for nothing and they not taking the piss with it (ie downloading loads ) then there really isnt much chance of ya getting caught! i was speaking to some coppers and they was like as long as ya dont rinse it then you'll very likely get away with it !! :/
i really dont know where i stand on this but meh!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lou Lou
I download albums, documentaries and films quite a lot. I still believe it is stealing but somehow I feel less guilty because I'm not physically sneaking it out of a shop :
I do prefer to have the actual product sat on my shelf but 'free' is just so damn appealing.
Definitely wrong, definitely stealing, definitely very common place.
Just because it is unlikely for you to get caught, it doesn't make it any more legally or morally correct. It's unlikely that I'd get caught shoplifting, never mind arrested so I'll go and steal later. It's unlikely that rapists will ever get caught or arrested so that's fine.
I download music off stuff a little bit, but what I mainly do is take music from friends' laptops which they have downloaded already. This way I'm not really doing the actual 'stealing' myself, but I am still gaining from the illegal activity. Which is wrong, but as music is really important to me and I can't afford to buy it all, then I will keep on doing it.
As to stuff like TV programs from America or films, sometimes I watch them for free online, as I only really go to the cinema with my family as our local one is very expensive. But there's also a girl who uses a file-sharing programme to get them all the day after they air in America, so we only get them like a day late. And she does that illegally, and doesn't charge us for it.
It wrong, but also very tempting to know there is only a slim chance you'll get caught. Also if you don't do much of the stealing yourself.
Last edited by Dreaming. : 03-03-2009 at 09:22 PM.
Reason: Removed the name of a file-sharing site. Thanks :) x
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell. I know, right now you can't tell. But stay a while and maybe then you'll see A different side of me Unwell - Matchbox 20
"Why inflict pain on oneself, when so many others are ready to save us the trouble?"
George Pacaud (1879 - 1937)
Unless you're downloading legally, then you're stealing. Doesn't matter whether it's 'physical' or not. If you can't afford it, then tough! If you can't afford something you have to live with it, music and films aren't essential to life. If desperate, some libraries rent out music and films.
Doesn't matter whether something is done online or in the physical world, if it's illegal, it's illegal. We don't consider child abuse or paedophillia any less criminal because it's done online, do we?
18.11 28.4 6.5 22.31
My heart just needs his smile, that i can't forget, like so melancholy a kiss.
I just thought that all the files got on the file-sharing sites from somewhere. So somebody must have bought them before they got on there. Some people must have bought albums, placed them in their shared folder, and installed the programme. That's how things get started.
So if your friend buys an album, and sends you the songs, is it illegal? Because you didn't buy it. You just borrowed the album and took the songs. You didn't put any money towards it. So is that wrong?
I know it's wrong. It does put people out of money. & I would rather buy the album, have the physical disk and artwork. Because I like it. Therefore, I hardly get any music from illegal sites, just the occasional song that I like, and nobody has the album. I tend to borrow albums from my friends, or just buy them when I have enough money.
& I also wish Dicky was here to argue this. :]
Last edited by Dreaming. : 03-03-2009 at 09:22 PM.
Reason: Removed the name of a file-sharing site. Thanks :) x
