What happens if you buy pirated software...

I agree.

 

The love of money is the root of ALL evil.

 

I know a person (not me) who works for a state agency that runs on pirated software. absolutely horrible.

 

Good point. If this tread was about someone stealing photos, I would like to see how many supported the attitude of "stealing is ok as long as you don't make money".

So I guess clients copying their family portraits and giving out to friends and family is not a problem as long as they give away the pirated copies for free.

come on...

 

how sad to see that there are people in this thread trying to justify software piracy. Just pathetic.

 

You did nothing wrong, but only removing the offending posts and not the posts that referred to them left the thread very choppy and confusing.

 

No its not, human egotism is the route of evil... Look at any other species on this planet, they do only what is necessary to survive. Yet we go above and beyond that into destruction, tearing the world apart because we dont believe we should suffer like other species in living with only what the enviroment provides, simply because we have the capacity to build the technologies we have. Im not knocking it, the way i live now, i wouldnt want to swap that for mud huts and fur, but its simply true.

However on the question of stealing, ill raise the old cliche...
"youve been in an accident, you cant work, your family is starving... you can steal food and live, or you can not steal and die"

General idea on the law.
"You get a speeding ticket, because you were racing to hospital to save a dying person"

I dont use pirate software, but it does raise the issue that the law sees only in black and white, and the human race is made of shades of grey. Although saying that, i guess in the end, the courts slightly make up for that, but not fully. We dont have a functioning system of life or government anywhere in the world.

 

Oh, come on. Most people here realize there's a difference between certain crimes. Speeding to save someone's life is an esoteric argument. There is a difference between saving a life and copying software. The point is that pirating intellectual property is theft. You can justify it all day long (the starving college student argument being the most tired one) or you can simply accept that it is lame. We are increasingly living in a world where IP is an integral part of our lives. It ranges from creative IP (photos, music, film) to technical (software and medication) to segment-specific. I'm working with some investment bankers who have a proprietary derivatives structure that they consider their IP - if someone copied the way they leverage and then trade certain assets, their livelihood would be undermined.

The "starving student just trying it out" is for spoiled western rich kids used to getting whatever they want. If you can't afford it, you can't have it - whether you're profiting or not. Accept that.

However, how long can a pharmaceutical company hold on to a life-saving patent when poor countries have dying people? Might the company have developed such a product if they thought it wouldn't be profitable, but rather appropriated by third parties? That's a far more interesting, timely, and relevant argument about IP.

 

Is this justification for theft, or a simple explanation/opinion for there reasons for theft?

You agree that it's OK to casually steal from others? Amazing.

 

My god this is pathetic!

Started with my father's generation.. mine carried it along with not much thought... the generations afterward actually twisted it all up actually justifying their spoiled actions. The me.. me. me.. me.. attitude that just won't go away. Stories of what the previous generations accomplished puts us to shame...

You should be ashamed at even trying to justify theft..

 

You are assuming im trying to justify theft, no where did i say i agreed with software pirating, i even in my previous post stated that i disagree with it, and have never done it. But its far too much bother for you to realise that and understand that i am not trying to justify theft but simply stating that things happen like that simply because the system of law and government we have is flawed. Also no where did i mention a starving student, i have no idea why you brought up that argument, and for all i can see it serves no use to your post.

You say all IP theft is wrong. Lets take your own example, the pharmaceutical company, it could raise the standard of living for the entire world, most certainly 3rd world countries, but they cannot afford the high prices, if someone went and "stole" that and gave it to the world for free, then how is that instance of theft lame. As long as they didnt claim the discovery as their own, and were only releasing it for altruistic reasons, i can find no fault with it. However if they claimed it as their own, you then start having the fault. Most human actions are teleological.

 

So what you are saying is that we should be a society that lives by "The Ends Justify The Means" mantra. Good luck with that one. You could write books on that screwed up logic. (Anyone wanna bring up the theft and sale of human kidneys on the black market for discussion? How about legalized mugging for those with income below the poverty line?)

We are talking software piracy here... not people's lives. Wait... actually we are talking about people's lives... the lives and families that depend on that income software pirates just stole.