Ok so I found this very interesting article and wasn't sure whether to post it in the USA politics thread or the European politics thread as it has elements of both and then decided, heck, this is a big enough topic that we can have a thread for it. Especially given the recent events with SOPA, the shutting down of Megaupload, and the fact that all of us (probably) have illegally downloaded something at one point or another.
Here is the article: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012211103617437180.html
Its all about the ethics of internet piracy. Hold on, I hear you say, there's even a question of whether it could be ethical to pirate stuff? Well, this guy does make some valid points in favor of piracy. But he does end up saying that governments and whatnot need to make it more attractive for people to NOT pirate things otherwise all creative peoples will haveto find other ways of sustaining themselves and their families cos royalties just isn't happening these days.
On the subject of which, there was another thing I saw recently that caught my eye: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionary_Church_of_Kopimism
To what extent is this simply a ploy to protect the PirateBay (it operates under the auspices of this new religion and as such is probably protected by Swedish laws governing freedom of religious practice, etc.)? How legitimate is it really? Either way, it is clever, no doubt about it, and raises all sorts of questions about religion (what is it? what constitutes a legitimate religion?) and the fact that while 17th century pirates were a minority, nowadays it seems almost EVERYONE is a pirate. How do you legislate or regulate something that is supposed to be illegal, but that everyone does? Its almost like Prohibition, and we all know what happened there. And while we're on the subject, WHY do people pirate things so much? Is it simply because its so easy? Cheaper? As a protest against the corporate/capitalist world?
To close, I am sure some people have heated opinions about this and I'd love to hear them all. So friends, debate away: is internet piracy really a crime?
Here is the article: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012211103617437180.html
Its all about the ethics of internet piracy. Hold on, I hear you say, there's even a question of whether it could be ethical to pirate stuff? Well, this guy does make some valid points in favor of piracy. But he does end up saying that governments and whatnot need to make it more attractive for people to NOT pirate things otherwise all creative peoples will haveto find other ways of sustaining themselves and their families cos royalties just isn't happening these days.
On the subject of which, there was another thing I saw recently that caught my eye: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionary_Church_of_Kopimism
To what extent is this simply a ploy to protect the PirateBay (it operates under the auspices of this new religion and as such is probably protected by Swedish laws governing freedom of religious practice, etc.)? How legitimate is it really? Either way, it is clever, no doubt about it, and raises all sorts of questions about religion (what is it? what constitutes a legitimate religion?) and the fact that while 17th century pirates were a minority, nowadays it seems almost EVERYONE is a pirate. How do you legislate or regulate something that is supposed to be illegal, but that everyone does? Its almost like Prohibition, and we all know what happened there. And while we're on the subject, WHY do people pirate things so much? Is it simply because its so easy? Cheaper? As a protest against the corporate/capitalist world?
To close, I am sure some people have heated opinions about this and I'd love to hear them all. So friends, debate away: is internet piracy really a crime?