Re: Crowd Sourced Problem: How Many Pirates?

**snooggums** · 05-21-2012, 09:00 AM

I stopped buying music because of horrible copyright enforcement, but since my wife insists on paying for TV I have 'pirated' the following items:

An episode of House M.D. that was preempted by a sports game in my area that didn't show a second time that week before the next episode to fill a gap in the story (the On Demand version is at least 2 episodes past).
Several episodes of shows that were interrupted by weather alerts.
A movie that was showing on HBO but had some screwed up recording through visual artifacts or sound being out of sync the three times I tried to record it or watch it on On Demand.
A series I wanted to watch several episodes at a time that consistently ran 10 minutes or more over the scheduled time that I didn't find out until I went to watch 6 of them. They ran over time because of some stupid sporting event.

So in short, I pirate the stuff that they are supposed to deliver to me and I pay for that they aren't competent enough to deliver properly. There's also the horrible 'HDTV' quality and annoying popover advertisements and many of their On Demand shows for the big networks doesn't allow fast-forwarding through commercials. No, I don't pay over a thousand dollars a year to be unable to use the fast forward button on my remote they provided.

Ahoy mateys, I plunder the treasure I PAID FOR because media companies are hellbent on making the enjoyment of their offerings a pain to use on their terms.

**Sirusblk** · 05-22-2012, 10:33 PM

I heard somewhere that downloading a show and watching it within 24 hours (might even be 48 hours) of it originally airing is perfectly legal in the US, since the show has been released into the public domain for viewing. Same goes for movies and more that have been shown on TV. You're not legally allowed to hold on to it past that 24 hours however. Anyone here anything to that effect?

**Jeepo** · 06-06-2012, 10:47 PM

Excellent topic Emale and some excellent replies. I do pirate, but do not consider it cheating. I don't usually pirate games as I have a vested interest in keeping PC game devs alive so I will pay for those, but will happilky chug movies and music down my internet pipe for all the same reasons as given above. I am going to be different and introduce something into the channel:

Dan Bull

http://itsdanbull.com/

Young British artist who first came to my attention a few years ago for this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SenHQos3g0s

So he is a HUGE supporter of internet freedom, he is witty and his songs work on a lot of levels. Plus you can not buy his music, he only distributes it on ThePirateBay and used to have it on MegaUpload.

Really just dropping it in here so people can look at his stuff, maybe listen, and see that the world over everyone has the same feelings about internet censorship and piracy.

**ThirdSin** · 06-20-2012, 02:25 PM

You can look at the overal population, but id be interested what age groups are more active. When i was 17, the internet was a much younger place and DRM ruled the land. I wasnt as risk averse. Acronyms like RIAA and MPAA didnt exist. I downloaded anything i felt like. Even stuff I didnt want... Its out there, ok ill download it... What was going to happen?

Fast forward 11 years and the internet is quite different. I dont much care about having every song (I stream) and the occasional movie on demand ( cable service) is enough for me. I have different consumption behaviors pushing 30 years old than I did when pushing 20. Why do I need to accumulate all this digital media, now with increased exposure to legal recourse? Insert malware and the efforts to backup and maintain the collection and the cost/benefit scale slides unfavorably for my youthful habits.

The availability of media online is getting better. But its a far road to where it needs to be. I compensate by finding other things to do (books, the great outdoors, etc). I think its all about balance. Again, Im at a point in my life where I dont sweat the small stuff like OMG MAI FAV SHO IZNT ONLINE.... DL DL DL! Just cant be bothered to give it much more thought.