piracy rant

Have you ever bought a CD or a DVD under the impression that you'd like it, and then after listening to it or watching it, found out you wasted your money? Did you take it back for refund, only to find that the retailer only refunds damaged or otherwise faulty stuff, so you were stuck with it?
Have you ever wondered exactly why, when something is shown free on TV, they charge extortionate amounts to watch it again on DVD?

Of course, the topic for the day is online piracy.

Personally, I believe people should pay for the things they want, and not have to pay for the things they don't. Filesharing has a massive role to play in this. For example, how on Earth is a person to know whether they like an album or not, just from hearing one or two songs from it? Of course, they download it first for free. Anyone with half a conscience is going to go buy the 'legal' copy if they like the 'illegal' one. Gone are the days when all this could be achieved by handing a CD over the counter at a music store and asking to listen to it, so really it only makes sense. With so many filesharing sites being closed down and worldwide laws being rolled out to combat the piracy happening, I wonder if all those people being sued should perhaps sue back for all the content they downloaded which they didn't like (because essentially, they'd be being forced to buy that along with the stuff they loved, which raises questions about freedom of choice).

So ok... in an unreal world where absolutely everyone is merely stealing the things they want, never paying for retail copies, always getting only what they consider great material, what about TV shows? Anyone with a DVR can access entire seasons of shows they like simply by recording it from TV while they watch it. Are these people criminals? Are they actually any different from the people who download those same entire seasons from filesharing sites? Are TV broadcasters criminals in the first place for 'public broadcasting of copyrighted material', or does the material only become copyrighted once it's been broadcast, and if so, are DVR users criminals for not paying for the copyrighted content stored on their hard drives? Or perhaps the person who missed the actual broadcast but still wants to keep up with their shows, downloads it from online, still pays for whatever TV provision they have (be it TV licensing, cable bills, satellite etc....). Those people even BUY the right to watch shows, but could be prosecuted for downloading it if they miss the broadcast (or in my case, happen to be in the wrong country). Should we all just buy DVRs (and pay again for the chance to record content we already pay for anyway), or wait for DVDs to be released (and then spend years looking for shops that actually sell the DVDs we want, in some cases)?

Often, piracy makes so much sense, it's no wonder governments the world over are tackling it. In the case of the UK's government, the tackling and beating down of common sense is par for the course. This is, after all, the same government that prefers keeping jobseekers looking for work, paying them to sustain themselves and keep looking, but does not actually equip them to qualify to the more abundant employment opportunities around. We're talking about the difference between paying for someone's entire livelihood for several years, and paying a couple hundred to get them a job they can keep for the rest of their lives, only changing employers..... it's not rocket science. But then again, having 2.69 million people to stigmatise over the failing economy is better than actually fixing it, I suppose. Can't have a problem without a decent scapegoat.