I dont get people who pirate stuff

#82

edgno1fan2

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point still stands, tagline is inherently flawed. just because it isn't something physical doesn't mean the company doesn't lose something - in the case of games, they lose a potential customer. the details of whether it is strictly "ownership or not" is irrelevant to whether or not piracy is stealing (it is).

see cadence design systems vs avanti corp for an example of non-physical theft resulting in a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

how serious piracy is is a different question - i'd argue its similar to shoplifting from a supermarket (whatever if its from an international megacorp, a lot worse if its your next door friendly grandma, i.e, indie studios).

doesn't change the fact its inherently unethical and therefore the "piracy isn't theft" tagline is a shit take.

#93

Yuniee44

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It makes a whole lot of difference if nothing is actually removed from anyone. Losing a potential sale is not base for a crime, then itd be illegal to just not buy the game… Digital piracy is per legal definition not theft, hence why you will not be tried for theft if you get caught pirating something.

#113

edgno1fan2

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piracy is a form of copyright infringement, which is, in spirit, theft of intellectual property.

again, see the case of cadence design systems vs avanti corp - CDS didn't physically "lose" anything, but theres a good reason why avanti corp doesn't exist anymore today - copyright infringement is, in ethical spirit, theft.

i think the difference between piracy and choosing to not purchase and consume a product should be intuitively clear, but if you insist on pedantic definition, then the fundamental difference lies in accessing premium products without paying the associated price. what is lost isn't the 'potential sale' per se, but the development time and costs associated per product consumed.

think about it inductively. is it ethical for EVERYBODY to pirate a product? the developers and the studio earn zero revenue for their development effort, so clearly not. so at what point does it become acceptable? when only 50% of the playerbase pirates? 20%? and when it does, what makes it okay for the n% of the playerbase to pirate but not okay for the 100-n% of the playerbase to do the same?